There's Always Tomorrow
by someonebuyadvdplayer
Summary: For Jeff, life was good. He had everything. A perfect boyfriend, an awesome school, and some freakin' dope blonde hair. Too bad his dad had to show up and ruin everything.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: So, I kinda stopped working on The Warblers on Crack...because...yeah. No inspiration. You guys know how that is, I'm sure. But, I will hopefully post another chapter in it soon...I just need to get my juices flowing again._

_But MEANWHILE, I have been working on this bad boy, so let me know what you think. Like seriously, let me know. I want me some reviews :) Thanks everyone!_

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><p>I grabbed my boyfriend's hand as we walked toward the movie theater. It was a typical Friday night and I was enjoying just…being. It had been a great day. I woke up wrapped in my gorgeous boyfriend, Nick Duval's arms, I had an amazing breakfast consisting of pancakes and bacon, I aced my chemistry test, I had absolutely no homework for the ENTIRE weekend, and most importantly, I was having a GREAT hair day. I looked over at Nick and sighed a loud, contented sigh.<p>

"You're in an awfully good mood," he commented with a smile.

"That's because my life is perfect," I told him.

"Nothing is perfect, Jeff," Nick pointed out.

"You are," I said sweetly.

"And you're unbearably cheesy," he said, rolling his eyes, but I noticed his cheeks color slightly as they always did when I complimented him.

I opened the door to the theater for Nick. "After you," I said politely.

As we were waiting in line to buy our tickets, I asked Nick which movie he wanted to see. "Since when do you let me pick the movie? You always make me watch the latest horror film," he said, trying to sound annoyed, but I knew he loved clinging to me the whole time the scary movie played.

"It's because I'm in such a good mood," I reminded him with a grin. "I'd take advantage of that if I were you." I winked at him.

"Right. So…how about Harry Potter?"

"Again?" I whined. "We've seen it eight times!"

"Because it's amazing!"

"We're not seeing Harry Potter," I said dismissively.

Nick sighed. "Fine. Let's see Crazy Stupid Love."

"No! I will not spend 2 hours of my life watching a chick-flick while you sob uncontrollably at the sweetness of it all and I silently vomit into the popcorn bag!"

"Who was the one that wouldn't sleep in his own bed for 2 weeks after we watched the Titanic because you needed a shoulder to cry on?" Nick asked, smirking.

"That's different! The Titanic is based on a non-fictional story! It was a tragedy!"

"How about the time you cried during The Proposal? Don't try to deny it, Jeff, I was there."

"Ryan Reynolds is an especially good actor," I mumbled.

"He really isn't," Nick protested.

Ignoring him, I continued, "We're not seeing Crazy Stupid Love."

"You're terribly picky."

"Let's see Don't Be Afraid of the Dark!"

"That's a horror movie, Jeff."

"It's a mystery!" I objected.

"A horror mystery. And it looks extremely creepy. I don't understand how the Titanic can scar you for life but you can sit around and watch movies like that all day."

We finally decided on some random French movie that I really don't think either of us wanted to see, but Nick started bawling just the same, while I tried desperately to figure out what they were actually saying. 3 years of French just wasn't cutting it, unfortunately. When the movie was over, the theater was practically deserted. We started to make our way towards my car, but got abruptly stopped.

"Jeff."

I knew that voice. I knew that voice well. I looked up, preparing myself for what I would find when I did.

"Dad."

He looked pretty much the same. Wait, scratch that. He looked exactly the same. He had the same tall, large build he'd had since I was a little boy. He had the same angry, dark eyes I remember. He had the same gruff voice, the same giant hands, and the same ratty clothes.

He looked at me for a long second. Now a normal dad would look at his son with joy and pride after not seeing him for 4 years; but not my dad. His eyes showed anger and shame, like I really disgusted him. "I see you found yourself a fag," He said mockingly.

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I was scared. I wanted to stand up to my dad and say, "This is Nick, and he's the most incredible person I've ever known, and I'm madly in love with him, and if you call him something like that again, I will punch your face out." But I couldn't. Not to my dad, anyway. Not after what we'd been through.

Nick sensed my fear because, well, Nick senses my everything, so he slipped his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. It was dark enough outside that my dad didn't notice, and I was appreciative of that. A gave Nick's hand a weak squeeze back, because that was all I could manage right now. I took a deep breath. I had to say something. It was either that or stand here like an idiot and let my dad beat the crap out of me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I instantly regretted opening my mouth, because all of my insecurities and fear were immediately evident.

"I guess I could ask you the same question," he shot back.

I didn't really expect that as an answer, but I definitely had a good come back. "That stopped being your business when you left." I could feel my confidence level slowly rising.

"Don't get an attitude with me, Jeffrey," He warned. "We both know where that led us last time."

I turned red with anger and narrowed my eyes at him, though I don't think he could really tell I was doing either. "I don't have to answer to you anymore,' I snapped.

"You'll do what I say," he said threw gritted teeth. I tried to shove past him but he grabbed my shoulders and threw me backwards. I probably would've fallen backwards onto the concrete and cracked my head open if Nick hadn't been there to catch me. As soon as I regained my balance, I also regained all of my confidence. I ran towards my dad, intending to get into an intense fistfight, but he slapped me across the face. He grabbed my jacket and made me look him straight in the eye, something that hurt almost worse than the slap.

"You look at me when I'm talking to you, fag." He slapped me again, and I don't really know what he would've done next if Nick hadn't of pulled me backwards away from him, and to be honest I don't really want to know.

Before my dad could do anything else, I ran past him towards my car, knowing Nick was following me. I silently cursed myself for parking so far out, because I wasn't sure if my dad was still a fast runner. Once I got to my car, thanking the gods that Nick was safely beside me, I looked back. My dad was just standing there as he had been, staring straight at me. "Get in the car," I told Nick forcefully, and he somehow managed to do what I had asked, even though he was shaking all over. As soon as both of our doors were closed, I drove out of the parking lot like a maniac. I had to get away from here.

We didn't talk to whole car ride back to Dalton, probably because we were both still in shock. Nick just cried softly, which I wasn't even sure was possible after all the water works in the movie theater. My eyes stung with tears too, partially from my dad but mostly just from Nick crying. The trip would've normally taken about 45 minutes, but I needed to get out of this town so badly that we arrived back at school in about 20. As soon as I had parked the car, I leaned over and hugged Nick tightly. His crying turned into loud sobs as he clung to me, and we didn't try to say anything for while. After he was quiet, I pulled back and got out of the car, opened up his door, and we both made our way upstairs.

The corridors of Dalton were quite empty, considering it was about 2 o'clock in the morning. We didn't say a word until we were back inside our dorm room and sitting on my bed. I sat, facing Nick, and brushed some hair from his eyes. "Are you okay?"

He sniffed. "After what he did to you, I'm just-" He took a deep breath. "I was really scared of what he would do again."

I closed my eyes forcefully, trying to forget all the memories that were flooding back into my mind from my middle school years. I opened them when I felt Nick's hand on mine. "Are _you_ okay?"

I tried to remain strong at first by nodding my head, but I couldn't fool Nick if my life depended on it, so I slowly shook my head. My eyes stung with those damn tears again. "I thought this was over. I thought he was gone."

"I know, baby. Do you want me to-"

"Right now I just want you to hold me."

Nick pulled me into his arms and let me cry into his chest. I felt pathetic. I needed to man up and face my dad. I needed to stop being such a coward. I needed to show him he couldn't control me anymore.

But for right now, I needed this.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: So, here's an update. I'm seriously hoping to be updating more frequently, because I get made at authors that take forever to post chapters, but we'll see. I've been pretty darn busy. Also, I apologize for the extreme fluffiness of this chapter, and I warn you, it's only going to get fluffier. Sure, the first chapter was sad, and I'll definitely be bringing some of that angsty stuff back, but for now we're gonna focus on the amazingness of love and family and NICK & JEFF. **OH**! And thanks to the reviewers! I love to know what you guys think. Please keep 'em coming, they literally make my day! I love you guys. Just like I loved last night's episode, right? I'm about to go listen to Mr. Shue's version of Fix You. _

_An apology is in order for this incredibly long and boring author's note. So, I'm sorry. I'm shutting up now, thanks for reading! Oh, one more thing. Glee is definitely not mine._

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><p>I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I buried my face deeper into Nick's chest, trying to ignore the annoying beeping. Finally he kicked me in the knee and told me to answer it. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and picked up my phone from the nightstand. I was instantly awake when I saw who was calling.<p>

"It's my dad."

Nick bolted awake too. "What?"

"It's my dad," I repeated frantically. "Should I answer it?"

"Um, uh-uh yeah, yeah, I guess," Nick stuttered.

I pushed the talk button, my hands shaking. "H-hello?"

"You shouldn't have run away from me like that, Jeffrey."

I guess when I answered the phone a small part of me hoped that maybe it wasn't my dad. Maybe it was just one of those silly prank calls saying 'you have won 1 egg roll and 6 tampons. Press 2 to collect your winnings' or something like that. But when my dad spoke there was no doubt in my mind. It was him. And he was angry.

"I didn't have anything else to say, Dad." I tried to sound confident, but from the look on Nick's face I knew I was failing. My heart was racing a mile a minute.

"Maybe we could've settled our differences last night if you hadn't left so abruptly. Now I guess we'll have to arrange another meeting," he replied. My dad sounded really calm; it was eerie.

"I don't have to meet you," I snapped. "You can't do this to me anymore. You can't manipulate me."

"Let's put it this way, son. You find me, or I'll find you." Those words made me shudder.

I swallowed. "What do you want from me?" The line went dead. I looked over at Nick, who had turned ghostly pale. I watched his stomach for a minute to make sure he was still breathing.

"So," he said after a few seconds of recovering. "What'd he say?"

I took a shaky breath. "He said 'you find me, or I'll find you'"

Nick's eyes widened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I shook my head, wondering the same thing. "I don't know what to do." And I really didn't. First of all, I had no idea where my dad was, so even if I did decide to meet him, I'd have no clue where to go. There was no way in hell I was calling him back. Second, if decided I didn't want to meet him, would he really find me, or was he bluffing? And if he did find me, would he hurt me, and Nick too? Whoa. I really needed to slow down. My thoughts were becoming incoherent.

"Maybe we should go home this weekend, like we planned, and talk to Mom and Dad about this," Nick suggested.

This weekend was the Duval Family Reunion of 2011. From what Nick told me, it sounded like a dull gathering consisting mostly of people over the age of 60, but it was important to Mrs. Duval, so Nick and I had agreed to go. Nick's family had pretty much been my family too, ever since my dad left the summer after my 8th grade year. My mom had left that summer too, saying she had an important job offer in Japan that she couldn't pass up, and that she'd be back in 6 months. She said she'd write me every week. I never heard another word from her. I moved in with Nick and his family as soon as my parents had left, and Nick let have my half of his bedroom. He's awesome. So, I called Nick's mom "mom" and Nick's dad "dad", because that's what they were. In my opinion, parents are people who love and care about you. My parents never did, but Nick's always have. And honestly, it feels really good to have a family I can call my own.

"That's not a good idea," I said sternly.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want them to stress about it. You know as well as I do if we told them they'd call the cops immediately, and that would result in CPS meetings and court sessions, and a bunch of other crap. It would be a mess." I fell back against the pillows, exasperated and confused. After what my dad did to me back in middle school, it's not like this was something I could just brush off. I knew I couldn't deal with this on my own, but telling Nick's parents would be really hard.

"Jeff, we're in way over our heads here. Mom's going to be really upset if something bad happens," Nick worried.

I knew he was right, but I still wasn't convinced. "Your parents have enough to worry about," I told him. "Paying for two boys to go to a private high school wasn't exactly part of their plan, not to mention college."

"You're long-lost abusive father is threatening you and you're thinking about _college_?"

"I just don't think I should put this on Mom and Dad. I'm not really their son, so it's not their problem," I said quietly.

Nick's expression softened. He knew this was a touchy subject for me. "You're just as much their son as anybody, Jeff."

I thought this conversation needed a subject change. "Do you want some coffee?"

"What? Um, no thanks. I'm just going to call Mom and tell her we'll be there by dinner, okay?"

I mumbled for him to go ahead, only half paying attention. I walked over to Nick's desk and put on one of his sweatshirts, (I needed a comforting smell right now), before walking downstairs to grab some coffee. I stopped by Blaine's dorm room to say hi, but he didn't answer, and I figured he must've spent the night in Lima. I made my way to the student lounge poured myself a cup of Dalton's crappy coffee, and Nick too because I knew if I came back without one for him he'd be upset, even though he told me he didn't want any. I could read that kid like a book. I practically jogged back up to the dorm, feeling anxious, but in a good way. I was ready to go home and cuddle with Fred and George, the Duval's orange kittens, and to smell actual edible food cooking, rather than Dalton's nasty mush. Thinking about home got my mind off of my dad, which was what I was looking for right now. Nick was had surprisingly already packed all that we needed for the weekend and was waiting for me with his duffel bag in one hand and his iPhone in the other. He handed me the bag without looking up from his phone, and I exchanged it for his coffee.

"Ugh," Nick grunted. "We have some more unexpected guests coming to the reunion."

"Who?" I asked, about to look over his shoulder at the text, but he slipped his phone back in his pocket.

"Looks like you're going to meet Great Aunts Susie and Eleanor after all, babe," he said sympathetically.

I rolled my eyes. "They can't be that bad."

"They're the snobbiest people I've ever met in my life," he groaned. "And they're _huge _homophobes. They hate me, and they're going to hate you too."

"Well, I'm excited," I said sarcastically. He laughed, but it was only half-hearted. We made our way down to the Dalton parking lot, hand in hand. We were trying to act normal, but it was obvious we were both still edgy. I checked my phone every five seconds, telling Nick I was just seeing what time it was, but I'm pretty sure he knew I was making sure my dad hadn't tried to contact me again. Nick just kept tugging at his t-shirt, which was a nervous habit of his. The car ride home was pretty silent; we just listened to the radio. The ride was about 6 hours. I never really understood why the Duvals sent Nick and I to a private school so far away from home, but I didn't question it, because Dalton was awesome. As soon as I pulled into our driveway, Nick jumped out of the car and opened up the trunk, retrieving our bag.

"Why are you so jumpy?" I asked, though I knew it was a dumb question. I already knew the answer.

"Just nervous about seeing all the family, I guess," Nick lied. "My grandma is really critical."

I looked around to see if any neighbors were out. They weren't, so I walked over to Nick and put my arms around his waist. "I'll tell them," I whispered.

"You promise?" Nick asked hopefully.

I nodded. Even though it would be tough, I needed to tell Nick's parents about my dad. I kissed Nick softly on the lips. "I love you."

He gave me a small smile. "I love you too."

We made our way into the house, immediately overwhelmed with the smell of roast beef and our mom's perfume.

"Boys? Is that you?" She popped out from the kitchen, holding a spatula. She looked as pretty as always; her long, dark brown hair tied up in a bun. She was a thin as a stick, and her eyes and smile were the same as Nick's, which I loved. She was beautiful. Then again, I was pretty biased. She was my mom, after all.

"Hey, mom," Nick said, dumping our stuff on the couch. He gave her a hug before sniffing the air and grinning. "You made peach cobbler?"

"I know it's your favorite," she said with a smile.

"Hi, Mom," I said cheerfully as I kissed her cheek. For a few moments I forgot all about my real dad; just seeing my mom made me feel ten times better.

"Hi, honey," she replied as we all made our way into the kitchen. "How's school been going?"

Nick and I both shrugged. "Okay," Nick said as he munched on some potatoes chips. She slapped his hand away from the bag, telling him dinner would be ready soon and he shouldn't ruin his appetite. Typical mom.

"Jeff, how'd you do on your algebra test?"

"I got an A," I replied, trying to sound annoyed that she was inquiring about my grades, but I honestly loved that she cared.

"Good job, Jeff! You're father and I are so proud that all of our kids have such good grades," she said as she beamed and Nick and I. I grinned at the fact that she included me in saying 'our kids.'

"Nick, did you remember to mail in the-"

"Yes, mom."

"Jeff-"

"Caroline, give them a break! They just got home!" Dad laughed as he came in the backdoor.

"Hi, Dad," Nick and I said simultaneously. Nick's dad was awesome. He was literally the best dad in the world. He wasn't grumpy and strict, but really calm and accepting (unlike my real father). He had brown hair that was graying, and he had tons of lines of his face because he smiled so much. I imagined he looked like Nick when he was 17. It was really great to have him as a role model, considering my real dad wasn't fit for the part.

"You boys ready for the family reunion tomorrow?" Dad asked, chuckling.

Nick groaned. "Did you really have to invite Aunt Susie and Aunt Eleanor, Mom?"

"They're family, Nick. Of course I had to."

"They hate me!" Nick complained.

"They don't hate you," she reassured.

"They have an anti-gay people bumper sticker the size of a giraffe's neck on they're car, Mom. They hate me," Nick stated. "And how do you think they're going to like Jeff? It'll be a nightmare!"

"Maybe we can say I'm just a cousin or something," I suggested.

"Um, Jeff, honey, I think they're going to know you aren't my cousin. Unless we try to convince them they have a long-lost nephew."

"Boys, I don't want you to lie about who you are," Mom said.

"Elie and Sus will just have to get over it," Dad added with a grin.

"Nick, it turns out your cousin Peter is coming home for the reunion. It'll be great for you two to see each other; you used to be so close," Mom said as she peeked in the oven to check on our meal.

Nick groaned again. "Perfect Peter is coming? Shoot me now."

"I thought you liked Peter?" Mom asked.

"Of course, who wouldn't like Peter? He's perfect!" Nick said sarcastically.

"You all used to be so close!"

"It must've just appeared that way because he was always 10 inches away form my face harassing me about not having a girlfriend! Yeah, well, just because Cindy Mills turned me down to the 8th grade dance doesn't mean I'm a loser!" He pouted.

"I was so jealous of her," I commented sadly.

"I always liked you better anyway, babe," Nick reassured me.

"Well," Mom started, "Peter is coming to the reunion so I just try to be civil. Both of you."

I turned to Nick. "I'm hotter than Cindy Mills, right?"

He slipped his arms around my waist and gave me a playful wink. "Absolutely." He was about to move in for a kiss when Kennedy, Nick's 13-year-old sister, walked into the room.

"Um, ew! Please keep you're hands off of each other while I am present," She demanded, shielding her eyes.

Nick rested his head on my chest instead and smiled. "Nice to see you too, sis." She mumbled a greeting as she opened the fridge.

"Hi, Kenny," I said, using the nickname that only I was allowed to use. If anyone else used it they would get a punch in the face. Kennedy was short and thin, but she was tougher than a bulldog. She had long, dark brown hair like the rest of her family, and dark brown eyes, and she had the biggest attitude of anyone I'd ever known, but she could still be super sweet.

"Hey, J," she replied distractedly as she pulled out her cell phone. Just then there was a loud, impatient cry.

"Looks like Lanie's up," Mom sighed.

"I'll get her," Dad piped up as he left the room.

"He just wants an excuse to leave the room," Mom told us with a laugh. "You're great-grandma is coming over for dinner and she should be here any minute."

"Grandma Annie is in town? This is going to be a long weekend," Nick grumbled.

I sighed in agreement. Grandma Annie was a very, very old (old as in 96), proper lady. She didn't particularly like me, and she wasn't afraid to tell me that either. She thought it was a 'severely unwise decision' for the Duvals to take me under their wing.

"She hasn't died yet?" Kennedy asked while typing a text message.

"Kennedy!" Mom scolded. "Grandma Annie is in excellent health; a fact that we should be very grateful for."

I heard the doorbell ring. "Nick, would you get the door?" Mom asked.

Nick begrudgingly made his way to the front door, and I couldn't help but chuckle when I heard the fake cheerfulness of his tone. "Grandma Annie! How nice to see you again."

"I hope you've been behaving yourself, Nicholas," I heard the stern reply. Apparently she thought this was an appropriate greeting for her great-grandson. I couldn't wait to see what kind of acknowledgement I was going to get.

I plastered a smile on my face as Nick and Grandma Annie, who was walking surprisingly fast for being 96 years old, entered the kitchen. Kurt told me old people need happy facial expressions to keep their brain working properly. I don't know if that's entirely true, but I'd do anything to keep this old kook from slapping me with her purse. "Hi, Grandma Annie," I said.

"Jeremy, is it?" she asked coolly.

"It's Jeff," I mumbled, but I could tell she wasn't paying attention to me anymore.

"So glad you could come over for dinner, Grandma," Mom said hospitably.

"Oh, Caroline, are you still putting up with this boy?" she asked with an exasperated gesture towards me.

"Grandma, Jeff is part of the family," Mom gently reminded her, but I could tell she was pissed. No one wanted to have the "Jeffrey doesn't belong here" conversation again, except for maybe Grandma Annie.

Grandma Annie huffed in annoyance at the response. Nick walked over to me and I involuntarily put my hand around his waist, not remembering Grandma Annie was one of the few relatives that didn't know we were dating. Mom said it was best if we kept it on the down low for Grandmas Annie and Sophia, our father's elderly mother who was about 87, just because they were 'so old and probably wouldn't understand', the nice way of saying 'they're super old-fashioned and would banish you both from the family.' Nick discreetly shrugged out of my embrace, shooting me an apologetic glance before looking at Grandma Annie and glaring. I immediately recalled that we couldn't act couple-ish around her, and sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. I thought about my real dad again, and about the conversation I'd have to have with Nick's parents after dinner. Nick was right. This was going to be an _incredibly _long weekend.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Howdy! I reckon it's time I post chapter 3 :) I hope I didn't disappoint too many people with turning a super depressed chapter 1 into a super fluffy chapter 2. But fear not! Angst shall return. The thing is guys, when I try to write angst, I feel really, really bad for the characters, and it just turns into kisses and cuddles. I am WAY too sentimentally attached to these dudes. Like WAY. (I'll try to work on that)_

_Alright, so I know the whole thing with the family reunion and everything is kinda getting off the story's main topic, but bear with me. This story IS and shall REMAIN TO BE about Jeff dealing with his dad, and how Nick and his family play a part in that._

_Once again, I hope you all like it. And please, please review! I'd love you forever and ever. _

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><p>I glanced around awkwardly at the other people at the table. Grandma Annie was lecturing about the importance of skim milk compared to 2%, while I could tell Dad was trying hard not to laugh. Mom was politely listening, Kennedy was texting under the table, and Nick just played with his spaghetti, grunting unhappily every few minutes. My eyes turned to Lanie who had just dumped a bowl of spaghetti on her head, and was now covered in tomato sauce. I quickly shot out of my chair and offered to clean her up; I'd do anything to get out of this room. Nick said he would help me, and we both bolted out of there like the dining room was running out of oxygen. Nick took Lanie from me and, after a long pause, he asked, "Do you have any idea how to clean this child up?"<p>

I chuckled and reached out for her again, telling Nick to run some bath water in the kitchen sink. I relieved Lanie of her wet and sticky clothes, and plopped her in the water after testing the temperature. She didn't look extremely happy about getting a bath, but at least she didn't cry. I started scrubbing food out of her hair.

"Where'd you learn to clean a baby?" Nick asked, impressed.

"It isn't rocket science, Nicky," I responded.

Nick rolled his eyes and slipped his arms around my waist, setting his chin on my shoulder. "How're you doing?"

"I'm okay," I said, knowing he was talking about my dad. "I'm dreading telling Mom and Dad, though."

Nick placed a comforting kiss on my neck. "You're doing the right thing."

I nodded and continued to wash Lanie, smiling when she put soapy bubbles on my nose. I rubbed them off and splashed her playfully, earning a giggle from the baby. I turned around to face Nick, unwisely taking my eyes off of Lanie.

"Will you come with me?"

Nick nodded. "Do you want me there?"

"I want you wherever I am," I responded sweetly before kissing him deeply. Nick responded eagerly; we hadn't really had a great make-out session in a while. The whole "dad" thing kind of put a damper on the mood. Nick's hand made its way to grip my thigh, while I started working on unbuttoning his shirt. We had completely forgotten about the wet, naked baby in the sink or the old, stingy grandma in the room next to us. That is, we forgot until we heard a surprised gasp and something falling to the floor.

"Boys!" Mom quickly snapped, causing Nick and I to jump apart. I looked over at the kitchen entryway where Mom and Grandma Annie were standing, and then down at the pasta dish Mom must've been carrying that was now on the floor. Nick and I turned as red as the spaghetti sauce that now covered the kitchen tile.

"What in the world-?" Grandma Annie started, looking very confused.

Kennedy smirked from behind them. "Secret's out." Dad quickly shooed her out of the room.

Grandma Annie looked expectantly from Nick to me to Mom. I was too overwhelmed by the awkwardness of the situation to even _try _forming an explanation. Nick just kept glancing in the corners of the ceiling as if our house had some sort of spider infestation, while Mom kept trying to spit out a coherent sentence. Finally, Dad clapped his hands together energetically, making everyone jump from the break of silence. "Alright, Grandma, it's getting late, and you've got a big day tomorrow with the reunion and all. How 'bout I take you home?"

"I'm not going home until I know what's going on," Grandma Annie demanded angrily.

"But you'll miss Wheel of Fortune," Dad urged after a few more seconds of silence.

"Um, Grandma," Mom stuttered, "Jeff and Nick are, um, well-well they were just, uh-"

"They're dating," Kennedy announced from behind Dad. Apparently she hadn't gone as far as I'd thought.

Grandma Annie raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Mom sighed. "Jeff and Nick are a couple, Grandma."

"And is there a reason I didn't know about this?" Grandma Annie asked in her old, shrill voice.

Nick must've recomposed himself somewhere in this conversation, because he was able to at least hesitantly answer her question. "You see, Grandma, we were going to tell you, but-"

"But what?" Grandma asked furiously.

"We didn't think you'd understand," he finished quietly.

"Of course I don't understand! This is preposterous! No grandson of mine will lead this kind of lifestyle; I won't allow it!"

I was quite impressed at the self-control Nick was practicing. I could tell he was ready to pounce on that old hag and end her right then and there, but he just breathed deeply and kept his hands folded across his chest. Mom and Dad looked pretty exasperated, but they too were controlling themselves. After a long moment filled with Grandma Annie giving each one of us a long, harsh stare, she continued. "Nicholas, I expect you to have come to your senses by the family reunion tomorrow. And, Jeremiah, if you continue to manipulate my grandson into being someone he's not, I'm afraid I will no longer be as kind and loving towards you as I have been." And with that she stalked off, Dad reluctantly following her. I gulped, again noting how fast she walked. Nick had taken poor Lanie out of the sink and wrapped her in a towel. She started playing with the chain around Nick's neck, and that seemed to keep her pretty entertained for the time being. I looked nervously at Mom, trying to gauge her reaction.

After a long pause, Nick broke the silence. "Maybe she didn't notice."

Mom groaned in disbelief. "Of course she noticed!" Mom hissed. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell her in the first place, I knew she'd be like this!"

"How about we get Nana to talk to her at the reunion tomorrow?" Nick suggested. "Grandma Annie has always listened to her."

Nana was Grandma Annie's daughter, making her mine and Nick's grandmother. She was the funniest, wittiest, and kindest grandma in the world. I loved her to pieces, and she reciprocated the feeling. She accepted Nick and I for who we were, and loved us for it, which is all I could ever ask of her. I'm pretty sure she and David would have some pretty intense fights over who was the biggest Niff shipper.

Mom sighed. "Well we're going to have to do something. I'll call Nana tonight and explain what happened. I hope she can talk Grandma Annie into at least keeping her mouth shut."

"I didn't seriously think she'd get that mad," Nick said as he tried to get Lanie to let go of the chain as she pulled on it.

"Well, she did," Mom replied, taking Lanie from Nick.

I rolled my eyes. "That was probably why she said you were banned from the family, baby."

"Don't you baby me," Nick snapped. "I'm mad at you."

I raised my eyebrows innocently. "What the hell did I do?"

"We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't kissed me!" He argued.

"Well excuse me for trying to show my affection!" I yelled sarcastically, turning my back towards my boyfriend.

"Boys!" Mom interrupted, bouncing Lanie on her hip who was upset from the yelling. "This is hardly the time for you all to be in an argument. Now, Nick, tell Jeff you're sorry."

"I don't have anything to-"

"Nick," Mom warned.

Nick exhaled sharply and turned to face me. "Jeff, I'm sorry for snapping," he said grudgingly.

"Jeff," Mom said, turning to me, expecting an apology to Nick.

"And I'm sorry for being the best boyfriend in the entire world and loving you unconditionally," I said haughtily.

"Jeff," Mom warned for the second time.

I sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Now, give him a kiss," she instructed.

"You just got through telling us not to-" Nick began.

"Shut up and kiss me, Nick," I demanded. Nick rolled his eyes and gave me a sweet peck on the lips, and I knew he was no longer pissed. Mom smiled, pleased. "Very good. Now, I don't know what's going to go down tomorrow at the reunion, but we'll just hope Grandma Annie doesn't make too big of a scene. I know some of our family is pretty prejudiced about you guys being together, but I don't want you to take anything they might tell you seriously. Just because you're both boys, that doesn't mean you don't love each other just as much as any other couple, okay?"

"I love you more than any other couple," I said sweetly which earned me a peck on the cheek from a grinning Nick.

Mom smiled, pleased. "Alright, good. Now I'm going to go get your sister dressed."

As soon as she was gone, Nick got out the mop and I wet a couple of cleaning rags to scrub the floor with. After a few seconds of silence, Nick said softly, "I really am sorry about snapping. I'm just on edge, you know?"

I nodded. "Me too." We cleaned the white kitchen tile in silence for a few minutes. I thought about how I was going to tell Nick's parents about my dad. Saying, "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. Guess what? My dad practically threatened my life," didn't seem like the right approach. Hopefully something would come to me on the spur of the moment. I groaned and threw my rag on the floor. "This stain isn't coming out," I complained.

"Is that kind of a double meaning thing?" Nick asked worriedly.

I looked over at him out of the corner of my eye and chuckled as I shook my head. I threw my rag back into the bucket and motioned for him to come over to me. Nick repeated my action and scooted closer, laying his head on my shoulder. I stroked his arm gently.

"Even though I'm acting normal with all the family around and stuff, I still am really worried about this," Nick stated quietly.

I kissed the top of Nick's head, staying there for a second to smell his hair. "I'm worried too," I confessed. "But, let's just try and forget about it for now, okay? I'm going to wait to tell them about my dad until after the reunion. I think we've had enough drama for one night," I said. He nodded in agreement. I was somewhat relieved at not having to tell Mom and Dad about my family drama tonight, but I also didn't want to put it off. The logical part of me knew it was only going to get harder. I thought about the reunion. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, but we'd get through it. Or at least I hoped we would.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Chapter 4...is possibly the cheesiest thing I have ever written in my lifetime. Which, is either admirable or really, really pathetic. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the sappiness that is this update. I loyally promise that this'll be the last overly fluff-filled chapter for a little bit, so just bear with me all you overly-sentimental haters. The next chapter is the family reunion, so expect it to be a little bit longer. Maybe not though; we'll see. As you know, I'd really love for you guys to review! And thanks so much to all the reviews and favorites and whatnot I've gotten so far. Y'all are the best! Enjoy :)_

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><p>Again, I woke up to the sound of my phone beeping. Thankfully, it was just the alarm clock this time. I quickly silenced it, surprisingly already wide awake. I looked over at my still sleeping boyfriend and smiled. I ran my fingers through his hair in effort to wake him up. "Nicky," I cooed. "Wake up."<p>

He swatted my hand away roughly and groaned. "Go away," he snapped.

I sighed. Nick was so not a morning person. "We've got to help Mom get ready for the reunion," I reminded him.

"Go away!"

"Fine," I said, pretending to be hurt. I started to get out of the bed, but Nick grabbed my arm to pull me back and snuggled up to my side. "No! Stay."

"You're really bi-polar," I teased.

"You're warm," he mumbled in reply.

"As much as I'd like to, we can't lay here all day," I chuckled. "It's past 8:30, and I'm sure Dad's eaten our breakfast already."

He sighed dramatically in response, and I knew he was fully awake now. He sat up and stared at me through sleepy eyes. "I don't want to do this," he complained.

I smiled sympathetically. "Me either," I agreed. And I really didn't. It was going to be a killer long day filled with fake smiles and boring conversations. Not to mention the awkward explanations of why Grandma Annie had seen Nick and I making out in the kitchen last night.

I stood up, trying to muster up some enthusiasm. I grabbed Nick's hands and pulled him up off the bed with me, letting our hands drop but stay intertwined once he was reluctantly standing in front of me. I kissed him chastely and squeezed his hands before taking a nourishing breath. "Alrighty! Let's get this show on the road," I said cheerfully.

Nick smiled weakly. "I admire your optimism."

I grinned and winked at him. "It's hard to be in a bad mood when you have such a gorgeous boyfriend."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Suck up," he teased.

"Doesn't make it any less true," I yelled back to him as I barreled down the stairs. I bounced into the kitchen, excited that I smelled pancakes cooking. I pulled up a chair at the round kitchen table, joining Dad who was reading the newspaper and Kennedy who was, get this, texting. I chuckled internally at how typically American my family acted.

"Morning, Jeff," Mom said as she flipped a pancake. She rarely cooked breakfast, but since Nick and I were home for the weekend I knew she would make us something. She always stuffed us when we came home on breaks, convinced that Dalton was starving us.

"Morning," I replied, pulling out my phone and logging onto Facebook as Nick came into the kitchen. I smiled when he kissed the top of my head and pulled up the seat next to me.

"Morning, Nick," Mom chirped, putting a plate of pancakes on the table along with a bottle of maple syrup. I could practically see Dad's mouth watering, so I hurried up and took one before he devoured the whole thing, plate and all. Nick took one, too. Dad took four.

Mom poured milk into a bottle and gave it to an impatient looking Lanie. "Kennedy, aren't you hungry?" She asked.

Kennedy slid her phone shut and laid it on the table. "Pancakes are nothing but fattening," she said matter-of-factly.

I snorted. "Since when do you count calories?"

Dad wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Kennedy crushing on a boy named Lucas," he informed Nick and I. "He's the cashier kid at Abercrombie."

Nick's eyes narrowed and we shared a suspicious glance. "The people that work at Abercrombie are shady. I'm going to have to do a back round check on this kid," Nick stated. I nodded in agreement.

Kennedy blushed deeply and glared at all of us. "Shut up! I don't like Lucas like that," she insisted.

I swallowed my mouthful of pancake. "You shouldn't worry about your weight anyway, Kenny. No boy is worth changing yourself," I told her knowingly, turning back to my Facebook page.

Nick stuffed another huge bite of pancake into his mouth and nodded. "Yeah," he said through his food. "Just take Jeff and I for instance. I don't care if he thinks I'm fat, because I know he'll love me anyway, right, Jeffy?"

"Hmm?" I asked, scrolling through my phone and taking another bite of breakfast. "Oh, of course, babe."

Dad snorted and turned the page of the newspaper while Kennedy groaned. "Sorry if that example isn't too comforting. You guys are as lame as an old married couple, meaning you're the WORST people to get relationship advice from," she said, scooting out her chair and standing. "Ever," she added.

"So you _admit_ you need relationship advice," Dad said.

Ignoring her father, Kennedy pulled out her phone and started texting again. "I'd be better off getting advice from Mom," she mumbled to herself as she left the kitchen.

Nick frowned. "We're not like an old married couple," he grumbled.

I shook my head in agreement. "Of course not. We're still exciting, right, Mom?" Before she could answer, my phone interrupted us. My heart skipped a beat. No one ever called me besides Nick. If one of the guys wanted to get a hold of me they'd just call Nick and tell him to tell me to call them. I was terrible about answering my phone. Mom got on me about it all the time, but it was just so much easier to have Nick be my personal secretary. I was afraid to look at the caller ID. I knew it wouldn't be my boyfriend, considering he was sitting two feet away from me. There was only one other person I could think of that would actually be calling me right now. And I hoped like hell I was wrong.

I pulled out my phone, trying to act calm. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly before looking at the caller ID. I must've either turned ghostly pale or beet red from nervousness because Mom's expression turned from casual to concerned, while Nick's eyes widened and he looked at me expectantly, trying to figure out if it really was _him_.

"Jeff?" Mom asked, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Aren't you going to answer that?"

My eyes unlocked from my cell phone screen, and I looked from her to Nick and back to her. "Uhm, yeah. Y-yeah, excuse me," I stuttered before dashing out of the kitchen, running into a chair on my way out that I could've sworn wasn't there before. As soon as I was out of hearing distance from my family, I pressed the talk button before the call could go to voice mail. I had a sense of déjà vu, remembering when he called yesterday morning.

"H-hello?" I stuttered. As much as I hated it, each time I talked to him it made me even more nervous than the time before. I heard a click, and then my phone lit up with a message reading 'call ended'. I was positive I hadn't hit the end button; he must've hung up on me as soon as I'd answered. That wasn't creepy or anything.

I walked back into the kitchen, telling my family it had just been a wrong number. Mom looked a little hesitant to believe me, but she and Dad both bought the excuse. I glanced over at Nick, whose expression was one of panic, and nodded my head to confirm his guess about who was on the phone. He made sure Mom or Dad wasn't watching us before discreetly gesturing his head in the living room's direction. I nodded and followed him out of the room, not bothering to say anything to our parents. Once we were in the living room, he started whispering anxiously. "Was it him? Where is he? What'd he say?"

"Yeah, it was him. But as soon as I answered he hung up," I informed him.

Nick's eyebrows shot up. "So he didn't say anything?" I shook my head, exhaling a big breath that I had just realized I had been holding.

"Why would he do that? Oh my god, do you think he has one of those cell phone trackers? What if he called you just to find out exactly where you were so he could come here and-and do something really, really horrible or-"

"Nick!" I interrupted. "Chill, dude. It'll be fine," I tried to reassure him. Or was I trying to reassure myself? I wasn't sure.

"This is getting scarier and scarier, Jeff. We _need _to tell somebody. Like an adult," Nick said forcefully.

I nodded vaguely, trying to process everything. Was Nick right about my dad calling to find out where I was? Was he really going to come all the way to the Duval's house? I couldn't believe this was actually happening. With the reunion 3 hours away, this was incredibly bad timing. I looked back over at Nick, who was looking at me anxiously, expecting me to say something.

"As soon as the family's gone," I promised him again. "I'm going to go get ready." I quickly ran up the stairs, suddenly eager to be by myself. I went into the small bathroom Nick and I shared, and quickly shed all my clothes and got into the shower. I thought the steaming hot water might help clear my thoughts, like it did in the movies. But honestly it just stung my skin and turned it red, so once I got out I was even more irritated then before, inside and out. It really pissed me off that my dad was doing this to me. He could at least be man enough to face me in person, rather then just calling me and telling me to find him, or calling and hanging up, probably in effort to intimidate me. But instead he had to be really mysterious about it, and make me more nervous by the minute. My thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the bathroom door. I glanced at the clock and realized I had been in the bathroom for almost an hour now. "What?" I asked, annoyed.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked, sounding legitimately concerned.

"I'm fine," I responded quickly.

"…Really?"

"Nick, I said I was fine," I snapped a bit too harshly. I regretted the words as soon as I had spoken them.

"Jeff?" Nick asked in a small voice after a few long seconds of silence.

I sighed and swung open the bathroom door, standing in my boxers in front of Nick, who had cleaned himself up nicely. He wore a dark blue dress shirt with dark wash denim jeans, which I could've sworn were mine. I stared at him for a long time, not really knowing what to say. I guess I could apologize for snapping, but he didn't really seem angry. He just seemed…scared.

Nick shook his head slowly, his eyes filled with worry. "Don't shut me out," he begged so quietly that he could barely be heard.

My expression softened a great deal, and a wave of guilt spread over me. Here I was, being a jerk and snapping at my utterly sweet boyfriend who was worried about nothing but me and how I felt. I did the only thing I knew to do to fix things. I kissed him. It was a long, urgent, and apologetic kiss that I knew would explain all that I was feeling without words being used. When we broke away I rested my forehead on Nick's, our lips so close they were still almost touching. "I'm sorry," I muttered against his lips, intertwining our fingers.

He smiled softly and kissed my forehead. We stared at each other for a second, Nick running his free hand through my wet hair. "It's okay."

Nick sighed and let go of my hand reluctantly, and I knew the beautifully sappy moment was over. He started pulling clothes out of the closet for me to wear. "Alright, Mom needs us to go pick up some stuff from the store in a couple minutes, so get dressed, okay? I'll wait for you downstairs." I could tell he was still slightly upset.

"Nick?" I called as he started walking away.

He turned around in the doorway to face me. "Yeah?"

"I'll never shut you out."

"Promise?"

"Promise."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Here's chapter 5 (: Yeah...so Nick's mom. AWESOME. I'm pretty sure you guys will love her even more after this chapter. And, I know I said chapter 4 would be the last fluffy chapter...but the ending of this chapter...yeah, I just couldn't resist. This ones filled with a little bit of everything though, so I hope you guys like :) As you know, reviews are LOVED. They're better than a hot fudge brownie sundae to me. And if you knew how much I loved brownie sundaes...

Thanks for reading!

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><p>"Nick! Get down here!" Mom yelled up the stairs as she bounced Lanie on her hip. She looked around frantically, checking and double-checking that everything was in order. She glanced at her watch. "They'll be here any minute. Jeff, did you set up all the chairs?"<p>

"Yup," I answered distractedly as I scrolled through my Twitter page on the computer in the family room.

"Get off the computer and do something useful," she scolded as she handed Lanie to Nick, who had just shown up at the foot of the stairs. "Did you finish the potato salad?"

Nick nodded and Mom ran off into the kitchen, screaming something to Dad about not mowing the front lawn. Nick smiled at Lanie and kissed her forehead, brushing some hair out of her eyes. Mom popped back into the foyer, putting a vase of flowers on the small table for decoration.

"Why are we trying to impress these people so much? We don't even know them," Kennedy asked from the couch as she changed the channel on the TV.

"They're your _family_, Kennedy! Could you please try and be pleasant? Now turn off the TV. And Jeff, how many times am I going to have to tell you to get off the computer? And Nick, what are you-" Mom was interrupted by the doorbell. "They're here!" She squeaked. "Kennedy, get your Dad. And Jeff, come here." She positioned Nick, Lanie, and I in a circle in the kitchen entryway, adding Dad and Kennedy to the picture when they arrived.

"Perfect," she said, pleased.

"We're like the Brady Bunch turned gay," Kennedy grumbled. I rolled my eyes and Mom smoothed her dress as she opened the door.

"Bethany! How nice to see you again," Mom greeted with a smile. "Come in," she said graciously.

A short, plump lady with brownish gray hair about 50 years old entered, followed by a tall, football-player built boy that looked about 24, and a younger boy that had the same build, looking about my age. I cut my eyes toward Nick, who was faking a smile, but his eyes were narrowed at the boys. I made sure Mom was distracting our new guests before leaning down and whispering in Nick's ear. "Who's that?"

"Aunt Bethany, and my cousins Will and Peter. They just returned from Ireland," he explained.

"Is that…perfect…?" I asked cautiously.

Nick gritted his teeth and nodded. I stood up straight again and stared at Peter. I could see now why Nick called him perfect. He was about 5'10 and had huge muscles. His teeth were whiter than snow and his skin was tanner than the sun. He had brown hair that was cut neatly, and he wore khaki dress pants and a green polo shirt. His brother, Will, looked quite similar, though he was wearing dark wash blue jeans and a Hollister t-shirt. Aunt Bethany, Mom, and Dad started chatting, so Will and Peter made their way over to where Nick and I were standing.

"Nick, buddy, how ya doing?" Will asked, grinning and slapping Nick on the back good-naturedly.

"What's up, Will?" Nick smiled.

"Who's your friend?" Peter asked suspiciously, gesturing towards me. I twisted my hands nervously, glancing around for anything or anyone to distract me from standing here awkwardly. Kennedy had taken Lanie into the kitchen, and the adults were now making their way outside, leaving me helpless.

"This is Jeff," Nick introduced me. "Jeff, this is Peter and Will."

I smiled and greeted them. Will shook my hand and returned my smile, while Peter just stood there with a frown on his face. I knew this wasn't going to go well; he didn't even know I was Nick's boyfriend yet and he already hated me.

"My mom said that you moved in with Nick's family a couple of years ago?" Will asked conversationally.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I had some family issues and my parents were both moving, so I needed a place to stay. I've been living with the Duvals for about 3 years now."

Will nodded understandingly. "3 years? I can't believe I haven't met you before now! It's crazy that it's been that long since we've had a reunion, isn't it?"

Nick agreed, and Peter made a noise of annoyance. "If we had these dumb ass reunions any more often I'd kill myself," he muttered.

Nick laughed uncomfortably and Will pulled out his phone, either pretending to or seriously not hearing what Peter had said. I glanced through the glass doors leading out to the back deck and saw that a few more people had arrived. One of them was Aunt Heather, whom I had met before. She was one of the people that knew Nick and I were a couple, and she tried to act cool about it, which I was grateful for, but I could tell it made her uncomfortable. She treated me nicely enough, though. With Aunt Heather were two older ladies, whom I presumed were Aunt Eleanor and Aunt Susie, and a younger college-aged looking girl that I had never seen before.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Nick excused himself and went into the kitchen, saying he'd be right back. I glared at him visibly, though I don't think he or his cousins noticed. Will cleared his throat and asked, "So, Jeff, do you go to Dalton with Nick?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we're roommates," I explained.

"Is that how you met?"

"No, we met in elementary school, actually," I informed Will. "I transferred from Brown to Taylor Creek in fourth grade, and we've been best friends ever since."

"How touching," Peter said sarcastically. Will shot him a look before turning back to me. "So do you have a girlfriend?"

"Uh, I-I, well," I stuttered idiotically.

"You don't have to answer me," Will said quickly with a laugh.

"No, it's okay. I don't have a girlfriend," I responded awkwardly.

Peter eyed me up and down for a moment and smirked. "Of course you don't," he mumbled.

My eyes narrowed and I was suddenly filled with a burning desire to tell him what I knew I probably shouldn't. "I have a boyfriend, actually," I said matter-of-factly.

Will's head shot up from his phone and he stared at me, eyes wide in surprise. "You and Nick?"

I nodded. "Almost 3 years now."

Peter laughed obnoxiously. "I always knew there was a reason Nick didn't have a girlfriend. At the time, I thought it was because of his atrocious looks, but it all makes sense now…"

Will cleared his throat. "Pete, let's go outside and say hi to Grandma, okay?" I glared at the boys until they were outside, and then stomped into the kitchen, preparing to yell at Nick for leaving me alone with his cousins.

"What the hell, Nick?" I whispered angrily so the family outside wouldn't hear. "Leaving me alone with your cousins? That's not cool! I think they bite."

Nick took a drink from his glass before responding. "I'm sorry! But if I would've stayed there another minute, the cops would be here right now."

"How do you think I felt? I almost murdered Peter!" I said exasperatedly. Nick handed me his cup filled with clear liquid that smelled suspiciously stronger then water and told me to take a drink. I made a face at the strong taste of the liquor, but swallowed it.

"I told them."

"You WHAT?" Nick screamed, almost spilling his drink.

"I told them. About you and I," I repeated.

After a long minute of Nick staring at me with a horrified expression, he replied, "You really shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?" I asked, getting a bit of an attitude. Though I wasn't really mad at Nick, it still irked me that he was so private with our relationship. I didn't talk about it much, but I secretly hated the fact that we couldn't publicly display our affection. I knew it bothered him too, but there really wasn't anything we could do about it.

"I know Will appeared super nice, and he is for the most part, but he's the biggest gossip I've ever met," Nick ranted. "And you've heard my stories about Peter. By the time we're outside, half of my family's going to know!"

I bit my lip, trying to think of a reason why Will and Peter would keep our secret. "Well… I think it's time your whole family knew about us," I reasoned. "We shouldn't have to hide our relationship from certain people just because they aren't accepting of it."

Nick sighed, looking distressed. "Jeffy, I want to tell them too, but I…I just don't know. Tranquility in the family is really important to Mom, and I just don't want to…stir the pot."

I nodded sadly, knowing he was right. It really sucked being gay sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I knew I was the luckiest guy in the world for having someone like Nick, and I wouldn't change that for anything, and I loved him unconditionally. But…not being accepted by a lot of people can be really hard, and I was tired of having to hide or lie to people about who I was. I was proud of Nick, and I wanted to show him off to people like other guys got to show off their girlfriends, or take him to the movies or to dinner without getting weird looks. As pathetic as it sounds, I just wanted to be…normal, sometimes.

My thoughts were interrupted when I realized Nick was talking again. "We'd better get out there. Mom is going to whip us later if we ditch the party."

I followed him out the back door and prepared myself for lots of awkward introductions. I saw tons of people who I'd never seen before in my life, and the majority of them were probably older then 40. Nick walked over to the blonde headed girl who I had seen earlier and another guy that looked practically identical to Nick, only a few years older.

"Hey, Nick!" The girl greeted brightly, wrapping Nick in a tight hug. "It's so great to see you!"

"It's great to see you too," Nick said, squeezing her back. "Becky, Josh," he said, acknowledging both of them. "This is Jeff. Jeff, these are my cousins."

"Hi, Jeff, it's great to meet you," Becky said cheerfully before turning to back to Nick. "You guys are an _adorable _couple," she squealed.

Nick groaned. "Who else did Will tell?"

"I think only us," Josh piped up. "But if you're keeping it on the down low, I'd suggest finding him before he tells the whole family."

Nick nodded in agreement. "We'll be back later." I followed him across the back lawn. The amount of people that were starting at me so intently as we were walking made my palms sweat. I tried my best to avoid eye contact with all of them.

"Will, can I talk to you for a sec?" Nick interrupted loudly.

Will looked confusedly from Nick to Aunt Heather, whom he had been talking to, and nodded. The three of us walked back over to the side of the house, away from the rest of the people.

"Who'd you tell?" Nick asked heatedly, looking accusingly at Will.

"About…?" He gestured from me to Nick, implying our relationship. Nick nodded and I swallowed, glancing at the kids who were playing basketball across the street and silently wishing I was playing with them.

"Why does it matter? I don't see why you guys are making this so secretive," Will replied.

"Oh, shut up, you know why," Nick said. "You know this family just as well as I do, meaning you know there are definitely some people that wouldn't approve of Jeff and I being more than roommates."

Will looked back at the party, appearing to be planning a plan for escape from this conversation. He turned back to Nick and sighed. "Just Josh and Becky. That's all, I swear. Now we should get back to the party before we're all in trouble."

We walked back to the backyard, where people were starting to eat lunch. Dad hid himself behind the grill, happy to be flipping burgers as an excuse to not be sociable.

I accidentally bumped into Mom on the way to the food table, which was an awfully bad mistake, because when she noticed me she insisted I say hello to her sister and her sister's husband, Nick's Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jason.

"This is Jeff," she introduced me. "He's been Nick's best friend since elementary school, and he's lived with us for about 3 years now, right, honey?"

I nodded and smiled, saying hello. Aunt Jessica gave me a disapproving stare and Uncle Jason cleared his throat uncomfortably.

Mom's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Is there a problem, Jessie?"

"I can't believe you let him live in the same house as Nick, Carol," Jessica scolded. "They're young and confused, you shouldn't be encouraging them."

My eyes widened and I coughed loudly. Apparently Will had told a few more people than he had led on. I glanced around the yard and noticed that several people had stopped their conversations and were staring at me now. I looked at Nick who was standing only a few feet away from me and saw that he was hiding his face with his hands, which was red with humiliation. Mom smiled, trying to drop the subject. "Jessie, I don't think you really understand."

"I think I do understand, Caroline. I mean, do you let them share a room? Do you even have any rules at all?" Jessica asked sternly.

By now all of the family was dead silent and listening intently to the conversation that was about to get pretty heated. For the first time in my life, I seriously considered joining the monastery.

"Of course I have rules," Mom defended. "Jeff didn't have any place to go, and I wasn't just going to let him live on the streets!"

"That doesn't mean you should allow that type of behavior to go on in your house," Jessica said matter-of-factly.

"What type of behavior?" Mom said, her voice rising. "I'm not going to stop my kids from being who they're supposed to be."

"Are you saying you _approve_ of their relationship?" Jessica asked, astonished. By this time I was positive I would become a monk, and from the look on Nick's face I thought he might join me. Kennedy had gotten out a video camera and was discreetly taping the argument before Dad snatched it from her, rolling his eyes.

"Of course I do!" Mom shrieked. "My boys love each other more then anything in the world, and I'm not going to tear them apart just because some people think it's wrong!"

Jessica glanced around at the family and lowered her voice when she realized this conversation was causing a scene. "Caroline, I care a great deal about Nick. He is my nephew, after all. And I don't want to see him ruining his life with a stupid mistake."

I felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest. I knew it was irrational to believe anything Nick's family might say about me, but part of me couldn't help but wonder if I really was nothing but a mistake. Mom took a few steps back and glared at her sister. "Leave," she said forcefully.

"Excuse me?" Jessica questioned surprisingly.

"I don't have to take this crap from you, Jessie. Not anymore. Anyone who calls my son a mistake is not welcome here. _Leave._" Mom repeated angrily.

Jessica looked around for a few seconds as if searching for help from her other family members, but when everyone stayed quiet, she stomped off, telling her husband to follow her. Once they were gone, Mom turned to everyone else. "I'm sorry about that."

Aunt Heather cleared her throat and smiled slightly. "I really do think I have to be going, Caroline. Aunt Eleanor and Aunt Susie need to get home. But thanks so much for the great time," she said, the effort in the cheerful voice obvious. She said her goodbyes to everyone and walked off, followed by Becky, Aunt Eleanor, and Aunt Susie. I didn't miss the apologetic glance Becky shot me or the disgusted glares Aunt Eleanor and Aunt Susie were giving Nick. Shortly after they'd left, everyone else made lame excuses to leave, since the tension of the party was becoming unbearable. Most people left with only brief goodbyes, but Grandma Annie was sure to express to Mom that she thought Jessica was "completely accurate in saying what she did."

Once everybody was gone, we all stood there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Finally, Dad and Kennedy announced they were going to clean the kitchen and Mom, who was visibly upset, said she should go tend to Lanie. I stood in the middle of the backyard, feeling upset, angry, embarrassed, and guilty all at the same time. Nick stood a few feet away from me, seeming immobile for a few minutes, before coming over and making eye contact with me. We stared at each other for a long time, unsure of what to say. Finally he took my hand a squeezed it, and I squeezed back before saying, "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Nick asked, stroking his thumb on the back of my hand.

"Being your mistake," I whispered back, staring at our hands.

After a short pause, Nick replied. "Jeff, look at me." I obliged, meeting his eyes that were filled with a gentle kind of firmness. "You are _not _a mistake. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I don't care what kind of shit people believe or say about us, or anything my family said today. Because at the end of the day, you're the only person that matters to me."

"But all of this today, it was my fault. I ruined everything," I argued.

"Jeffy, none of this was your fault. I promise. It was just my family being stupid assholes. And you know what? Because of their narrow-mindedness, they missed out on getting to know a pretty great person," He said, pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes.

I smiled softly and Nick kissed me before wrapping me tightly in his arms. "I love you," I mumbled into his shoulder.

"I love you too, baby," Nick responded and kissed the top of my head.

I sighed in contentment in spite of my crappy day. Because, even though Nick's family hated my guts, and my dad was threatening me, and I'd have to have a long conversation with my parents later about my dad, right now was good. Because I was with Nick. The only person that really mattered.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hey guys :) Sorry for taking over a week with the update, my life's been pretty busy. But, never too busy for my niff-fanfiction writing time, right? This chapter's pretty cheesy, but with a fair amount of angsty stuff too. Thanks SO SO SO much for reading and reviewing, you guys are great. A slight warning, there's some descriptions of child abuse in this chapter, but it's not like it goes on for paragraphs and paragraphs. Please keep those reviews coming, because I love to know what you people think :) And since I haven't been doing these..._

_Disclaimer: Glee isn't mine_

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><p>"Come on, Jeff."<p>

"No!" I protested, burying my face farther into my pillow. It was 8:30pm on the day of the reunion, and I hadn't spoken to my parents since the fiasco. I had stayed locked up tight in my bedroom, and Nick had been pushing me to go downstairs and talk with them all afternoon.

"You have to talk to them sometime," Nick urged, lightly tugging on my hand.

I lifted my head slightly to look at my boyfriend. "I'm not suicidal," I said before stuffing my face into the pillow again.

Nick chuckled. "They aren't going to kill you. They're only going to be mad if you don't tell them."

I turned on my side to face Nick. "It's not that. Mom's been planning this reunion for months, and I ruined everything." Nick was about to argue when I cut him off. "And before you tell me again that it wasn't my fault, I don't know if Mom's going to agree with you."

Nick sighed. "Jeffy, you're really over thinking this reunion thing. The only thing Mom's going to be worried about is your dad."

I blinked at him for a few seconds, and he knew I had given in. He smiled and kissed my cheek before pulling me up to my feet. "Come with me?" I begged, knowing Nick's presence would make me feel better.

Nick nodded and took my hand as we walked downstairs together into the living room. Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch talking quietly, and I got the sense we were interrupting something important.

"Did you need something, boys?" Mom asked.

"I have to talk to you about something," I said nervously. Mom gave me a nod to go ahead and Dad looked at me expectantly.

I took a deep breath before going on. I knew I had to say this all at once, and fast, or else I wouldn't say it at all. "On Friday night when Nick and I were at the movies my dad came up to us and started yelling at us and he slapped me and we ran away and Saturday morning he called me and told me that if I didn't find him he'd find me and he's really angry and it's really creeping me out and I know you don't want to hear this and I know you're probably mad at me about what happened today but-"

"Whoa, Jeff! Slow down," Dad interrupted, trying to comprehend what I had said.

"Honey, why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" Mom asked, the concern in her voice evident.

"I just wanted to wait until the reunion was over," I mumbled. "But since I ruined that too, I guess I just…can't win."

"Jeff, sit down," Mom demanded gently. I sat on the love seat across from the couch, and I was glad Nick decided to sit next to me. "Sweetie, what happened today was not your fault. My sister is just closed minded and arrogant and I don't want you to believe a word she said. Jeff, your father and I love you more than anything else in this world. And just because you haven't been our son as long as Nick doesn't mean you are any less of our son than he is. And if you think I'm going to let somebody tell me that you're nothing but Nick's mistake, then you're wrong. Honey, I thank God for you every day. I couldn't have asked for a better person for Nick to be with, and you've made such a great impact on my life. I wouldn't change the way things are for anything in the world. So screw my sister."

I was close to tears after Mom's speech and went over to give her a hug, falling onto the couch in between my parents. Mom rubbed my back lovingly, and I felt kind of like a five year old, but I didn't really care.

"So you and Nick can't break up, okay?" Dad joked. "Because I'm not sure which one of you we'd have to kick out."

I laughed lightly. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

Mom's face turned more serious. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"Nothing," I said. "It probably isn't a big deal. Nick wanted me to tell."

"Nick was right. You shouldn't keep stuff like this from us, Jeff." I stared at my feet, unable to meet her gaze. Fred came up to me and started rubbing against my legs, asking to be held. I picked him up willingly and scratched his head, comforted by the soft fur of the kitten. I knew I should probably say something, but I didn't know what. We all sat there in silence for a minute, and I concentrated on the peacefulness of the purring cat on my lap.

Mom sighed. "Why don't you boys go on to bed," she suggested finally. "I know it's a three day weekend, but you'll have a long drive back to Dalton tomorrow, and you both look exhausted." We obeyed, getting up and mumbling a goodnight before making our way upstairs.

"Jeff," Dad stopped me. I turned around to face him and found his expression to be more serious than I've ever seen it. "He won't touch you again. I won't let him."

I nodded slowly before turning to go up the stairs. I mindlessly brushed my teeth and changed into sweat pants before climbing into bed, trying to do what Dad had said. I really shouldn't worry about it. My real dad wasn't going to touch me. He probably was just bluffing. Nick got into bed on the other side, scooting over to lie next to me. He kissed my temple and I laid my head on his shoulder, snuggling into the crook of his neck. I briefly wondered if we would ever get over cuddling together to go to sleep. I hoped not.

"You okay?" Nick asked, his hand stroking up and down my arm.

"Just tired," I responded quietly, not really wanting to get into a conversation.

"I love you," Nick whispered.

I looked up at him and smiled, moving in for a kiss. "Love you too," I mumbled against his lips. I kissed him again before laying my head back on his shoulder.

"Night."

"Night," I responded, breathing in the comforting smell of the boy next to me. I realized how tired I really was, and it didn't take me long to fall asleep. It didn't take long for my peaceful sleep to be interrupted, either.

"Jeff!" I heard him yell from downstairs. I looked around my tiny bedroom, frightened. He'd been drinking again. I spotted my cell phone on my bed, and momentarily considered calling someone. Mom wouldn't answer; she was somewhere in Colorado for a business conference. Nick probably wouldn't answer either; he was probably still golfing with his dad. I decided to stay silent and pray he would just leave me alone. I shut my eyes and breathed deeply in effort to calm down, but was interrupted again by my dad's footsteps and the sound of a beer bottle shattering against the kitchen tile. "Jeff! Get your ass down here."

My heartbeat quickened and I walked to my door, knowing I had to do what I was told or I'd probably suffer worse than I already had to. My knees were shaking as I stumbled down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, finding my dad just as I had imagined. Drunk. And angry.

"Come 'ere," he demanded from the other side of the room. I hesitantly walked over, still shaking. Once I was within his reaching distance, he grabbed my shoulder firmly and looked me straight in the eye. "I told you to clean this damn floor."

"I did," I managed to stammer out before I felt a forceful slap on my face. I flinched and tried to step away from him, which caused him to slap me again. He repositioned his hands on my shoulders, only tighter this time. "You can't even do one stupid job right! Useless faggot," he yelled before pushing me up against the wall. I squirmed in his grasp, trying to fight my way out, and finally managed to push him off me slightly. Before I had the chance to escape, he grabbed me again and threw me against the kitchen counter, causing me to hit my head on the countertop before crashing to the floor. Several dishes had shattered to the floor, one of which sent a long cut down my arm. I was immobilized for a minute, staring at my dad in shock. He merely scoffed before grabbing his car keys off the table and exiting the house, slamming the front door behind him. I pressed my palm against my forehead, and when I took it off it had a large amount of blood on it. I hadn't realized I was bleeding this much, and I knew I had to get up and do something, but when I tried, a sharp pain shot throughout my leg, and I couldn't move it. My eyes welled up with tears that didn't take to long to spill over, not knowing how long I'd have to sit here before someone would come get me. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only 15 minutes, I heard the front door open, and I inhaled sharply, thinking it was my dad again.

"Jeff? Are you home?" I heard someone yell. I don't think I was ever as relieved to hear that voice as I was right then.

"Nicky?" I called out softly, trying to hold back the new flood of tears that was coming on, but unsuccessfully.

Nick walked into the kitchen and looked around before spotting me in the corner. His eyes widened with horror and he dashed over to me, immediately at my side. "Oh my god. Oh my god, baby, what happened?" He asked hysterically.

"My dad," I whispered, though probably unnecessarily. He knew all about the times my dad had hit me before, though things had never gotten this bad. Nick pulled off his jacket and applied it to my head wound, which I still didn't know how severe it was, and pushed my bangs out of my face. "I can't get up," I added, motioning towards my leg.

"It'll be okay, Jeff, don't worry," Nick said quickly, trying to convince himself as well as me. "I'm going to call 911."

I grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it tightly, scared by the fact that this was a serious enough situation to call 911. They said the ambulance would be there in less then 10 minutes, and for us to stay where we were. Nick wrapped his arms around my shoulders and repeatedly told me it would be okay, placing comforting kisses on the top of my head. It didn't seem too long before I heard the ambulance's loud siren.

I woke with a start. I heard an ambulance zoom by somewhere near our house, it's siren blasting loudly. I glanced up at my boyfriend to make sure I hadn't woken him up, but he was still sleeping soundly. I rubbed my eyes, telling myself over and over that it was just a dream. The only reason why it seemed so real was because…it was real. That was the July after my 8th grade year, only 2 months after Nick and I had started dating. The last day I saw my dad. Or at least, the last day I saw my dad until last Friday night.

I slinked out of Nick's embrace, careful not to wake him up. I noted that it was only 11:30, and I hadn't been asleep for very long. I opened the door slowly so as not to make a noise, and closed it softly behind me. I tiptoed down the stairs, and was about to go into the kitchen when I heard two hushed voices that stopped me.

"I cannot in my right mind send them back to Dalton alone!" Mom was arguing. "He could be anywhere."

"What are we supposed to do?" Dad asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "We can't keep them here forever."

"Maybe just…let them take a break from school for a little while. Just until this is resolved," Mom proposed.

"We can't let him control our lives, Caroline," Dad said gently.

There was a slight pause before Mom responded. "If anything ever happened to Jeff again, I don't know what I would do."

"I know," came Dad's simple reply.

I was about to sneak back upstairs when I heard a quiet sniff from the living room. My brow furrowed in confusion as I went to investigate. The only other person that could be up was…

"Kenny," I whispered. "What are you doing?"

She looked up at me and sniffed again. "I guess I could ask you the same question," she whispered back, her voice making evident that she had been crying.

I pulled her over to the couch and we both sat down. I looked at her seriously. "How much did you hear?"

"Your dad's back," she stated simply. I nodded slowly in confirmation. We sat there in silence for a few moments before I spoke. "I'm a lot tougher than I was then, Kenny. He won't hurt me again." I saw her eyes water again and she wiped them away quickly, trying to hide it from me. "You don't always have to be so tough, you know."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I go to public middle school. I think I do."

I laughed quietly. "But I'm family. You can let your guard down around me, right?"

She stared at me for a long time before letting one tear spill over and burying her face into my chest. I hugged her for a long time, and when I felt her cries die down and her eyelids looked heavy with sleep, I told her we should probably go up to bed. We trudged up the stairs and when we got to the top, I hugged her once more and kissed the top of her head. "It really will be okay. I promise."

She smiled slightly and nodded, and we went to our respective bedrooms. I crawled into bed and snuggled back up to a sleep-warm Nick. I thought about what I had told Kennedy. I didn't entirely believe all of it myself, but I guess that really wasn't the point. I had to be the strong one for her. That's what big brothers are for, right?


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Chapter 7's up :) Sorry for taking a bit longer with this one, life's crazy! I'm hoping to have the next chapter up pretty soon too. I guess that's really all...but, yeah. Thanks for reading. A lot. You all are great (: And pretty please review! It'd make me super happy. _

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><p>I opened my eyes and squinted at the shocking light streaming through the window. I rubbed the sleep out of my left eye before checking the clock. 11:12. The spot next to me that had once been occupied with Nick's body was now vacant, causing me to pull the comforter up to my neck to try and warm myself from the lack of Nick's body heat. I lay there for a couple of minutes, dreading the insane amount of homework I still had left to do before classes on Tuesday; procrastination was definitely one of my weaknesses. Just as I was deciding whether I should tackle algebra or chemistry first, I heard the door creak open and Nick peek around it hesitantly, checking to see if I was still sleeping or not. When he saw I was awake, he smiled and entered, carrying a tray of food.<p>

"You're awake," he grinned, walking over to my side of the bed and handing me the tray.

"Breakfast in bed?" I asked surprisingly, the smile on my face growing. "I must've done something extremely good, or you're just feeling extra generous today."

Nick shrugged, sitting at the end of the bed and crossing his legs Indian-style. I shoved a fork-full of scrambled eggs into my mouth and chewed slowly, the smile on my face slowly fading. "You made these?"

Nick frowned. "Mom said they were excellent."

I smirked as I forced the eggs down, taking an excessively large gulp of orange juice. "Mom lied."

Nick stuck his tongue out at me and I laughed, setting the tray on the bed beside me. "A for effort, Nicky."

"Whatever."

"Come here," I offered, holding out my arms.

Nick rolled his eyes and crawled over into my lap, laying his head in the crook of my neck. He picked at a thread in my t-shirt absentmindedly for a few minutes before I broke the comfortable silence. "You don't have to treat me like this, ya know."

Nick looked up at me confusedly. "Like what?"

"Specially. Bringing breakfast in bed and such." Nick tried to protest but I continued, "And before you say it isn't special, I know that's not true. You've never cooked for anyone before. Much less me," I added with a grin. "I'm really okay, Nick. Let's just…let things go back to normal."

Nick bit his lip and nodded. "Okay."

I smiled and hopped out of bed, placing a kiss on Nick's forehead. "I have tons of homework to do before we leave tonight, so I'd better get started."

"Ugh, me too," Nick agreed, picking up the tray to take it back downstairs. "Since Dalton's curfew is at 12, and the drive is 6 hours, I was thinking we could leave about 10ish," he joked.

I laughed and pulled on a pair of blue Hollister sweat pants. "I like the way you think."

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><p>"Guys? Can I come in?" I heard Kennedy asked as she knocked lightly on our bedroom door.<p>

"Since when do you have to ask?" I asked from my bed, flipping through my history book. It was about 1:30 now, and as much as I tried to do my homework quickly, I didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

Kennedy ignored me and took a few steps into the room. "Are you guys busy?"

Nick sat at the desk, typing furiously on his laptop and occasionally scribbling something down in his notebook. "Just a bit," he said distractedly.

Kennedy nodded, seeming a bit embarrassed. "Oh. Well I'll just leave then."

I slammed my book shut. "Wait a second," I said suspiciously. "You're just going to leave? Just because we said we were busy?"

Nick spun around in the desk chair, his brow furrowed. "Yeah, why are you being so nice?"

"I wanted to ask you guys something," she mumbled softly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I teased.

"I need your help," Kennedy said loudly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Omigod, this is huge. Jeff, the day has finally come! Our baby sister is coming to us for advice," Nick cooed, pouncing over to the bed to sit by me.

I grinned. "What'd you want to ask us, Kenny?"

"Well, you guys know that I'm dating Chad now-"

"Chad?" I shrieked, pulling off my reading glasses in surprise. "What about Lucas? The Abercrombie kid?"

"Chad and I have kind of been on-off for a while now," she answered indirectly.

"Is he pressuring you?" Nick asked accusingly.

"No. Well, I mean, not exactly," Kennedy said uncomfortably.

"Nick, where does Dad keep his gun? I'm going after this kid," I said, getting up off the bed with a purpose.

"Whoa, hold on! Sit back down," Kennedy demanded. I glared but obliged, not happy with the way this kid was sounding. "You guys aren't making this any easier for me."

Nick and I shared a look and then sighed simultaneously. "Alright," Nick said. "We're listening."

"Okay. Well my friend Lindsey just, you know, went all the way. With her boyfriend. And a lot of other kids in my class are…doing it now. So I just was wondering…what age should you…start?"

"Never!" Nick shouted immediately. "You should never do it! Sex is bad. Really bad."

"Nick, calm down. What kind of advice is that?" I reprimanded before turning back to Kennedy. "Kenny, kids your age shouldn't be having sex. They're way too young."

"Well, what age did you and Nick first do it?" Kennedy asked, placing a hand on her hip.

I coughed loudly and tried to excuse myself to the bathroom, but Nick pulled on my sleeve, telling me to sit back down. Kennedy looked at us expectantly, and Nick and I shared a look before answering.

"Jeff and I are…a really bad example," Nick managed to spit out.

"Why?" Kennedy questioned curiously.

"Well," I started, dragging out the word to prolong continuing. "You have to understand that Nick and I had known each other since 4th grade. And we had been _together _together for a while already."

"So how old were you?" Kennedy repeated, starting to get annoyed.

I looked at Nick, who's face was slightly red. I sighed and answered, "9th grade."

"But we were technically in 10th grade, because school had already been out for a week," Nick added defensively.

"So, it's okay to start in 9th grade?" Kennedy asked.

"NO! No, no, no, absolutely not. Never do it. Sex is bad. Really bad," I screeched frantically.

"Jeff, calm down. What kind of advice is that?" Nick mocked, rolling his eyes at me. "Jeff and I are like…the only exception," Nick replied, hoping that answer would be sufficient.

"That's the dumbest reason ever," Kennedy groaned, exasperated.

"Well, like Jeff said, we had known each other for a really long time, and we were super comfortable with each other, right?" Nick asked me, and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, definitely. Plus we didn't have to worry about somebody getting pregnant. Kennedy, when you find the person you want to be with, you'll just know. I promise. It'll just feel…right," I said earnestly.

"Well, I really like Chad, but…I don't think I'm ready for that. But everybody else is doing it, and I think he wants to-"

"Then don't do it just because everybody else is," I cut in. "You'll regret it if you do."

"Yeah, you really will," Nick agreed. He turned to me and looked at me lovingly. "I know I'm glad my first time was special."

I smiled and kissed his forehead. "Me too."

"Ick, save it for once I leave, please," Kennedy shuddered, shielding her eyes.

I laughed and held out my arms, requesting a hug. She rolled her eyes but smiled and walked over where the three of us shared a group hug. When we broke apart, I looked at her seriously. "Thanks for being smart and coming to us about this, Kenny. We're always here for you."

"Always," Nick echoed, squeezing her hand gently. She nodded and started to leave before turning around in the doorway, an evil smirk on her face. "Does Mom know you all did it in 9th grade?"

Nick and I shared a look before laughing. "I'm pretty sure Mom thinks we're still virgins," Nick laughed.

"Well, you better be nice to me then," Kennedy said before shutting the door behind her.

My mouth dropped in shock as Nick screamed after her, "Kennedy, you wouldn't dare!"

"You don't think she'll tell her, do you?" I asked worriedly. Nick groaned in response, falling back against the pillows. "I mean," I continued, "maybe she already knows, right? We like, share a bed and everything. It's got to be pretty obvious, don't you think?"

Nick looked at me like I was an idiot. "It's _Mom_," he said matter-of-factly. I sighed and slid my glasses back on, laying my head on Nick's stomach and turning the page of my history book. Only a few seconds passed before there was another knock on the door and Mom entered, carrying a huge basket of clean laundry. When you go to an all boys' school and only come home about once a month, the laundry tends to pile up. Nick and I keep all of our dirty clothes in the trunk of Nick's car so we wouldn't forget to bring them home.

"You guys should probably get your stuff together," Mom suggested, setting the basket on the floor.

Nick shrugged nonchalantly and I glanced in Mom's direction, turning another page in my book. She came over and sat down on the bed, patting my knee. "Jeff, sit up," she said seriously. I obliged, shutting my book and setting it on the floor. "Your Dad and I talked a lot last night about what you told us. And, while I'll worry about you constantly, we both think it's okay for you to carry on like this didn't happen. But I still want you to use caution," she added. "And if anything else happens, anything at _all_, promise me you'll tell me immediately. I'm always just a phone call away."

"I will," I promised.

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><p>We arrived back at Dalton at 11:47pm, only 13 minutes shy of getting a demerit. I offered to take our stuff up to the room while Nick stopped by Thad's to consult him about their English homework. When I arrived at our door, there was a small, folded piece of paper taped to it with my name on it. My breath hitched in my throat as I tore the paper down, staring at it for a few seconds before opening the door, throwing the stuff on the floor, and opening the note.<p>

_**Jeff,**_

_**I hope you receive this in plenty of time. I would like you to meet me tomorrow behind Helda's car shop. If you choose not to show up, the consequences will be severe for your precious boyfriend. Please show up right after school. After all, what kind of father would I be if I asked you to skip school?**_

"_The consequences will be severe for your precious boyfriend."_

The sentence kept running through my head as my shaky hands slipped the note into my desk's drawer so Nick couldn't find it. I had to go. I _had _to. No one was going to touch _my_ precious boyfriend.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I'm incredibly sorry for the wait! And I really don't even have a good excuse because this chapter is pretty short and pretty bad, so you guys all probably hate me. BUT I will say I have already started on chapter 9, so I'm hoping that won't take too too long. Also I'm hoping it will be better than this chapter. Then again, I kind of always say that. _

_But yeah. Here ya go. All the reviews have been EXCELLENT, and I would greatly appreciate some more :D Thanks everyone._

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><p>I glanced at the clock for what was probably the 18th billionth time that day. Oddly, it seemed to be stuck at 2:47, 3 minutes before the bell would ring and my last class would be over. I blinked largely, trying the clear the black letters on the white board in the front of the classroom. In spite of my glasses, everything was looking quite blurry today from my lack of sleep. It was quite surprising that my tossing and turning didn't keep Nick awake, but he was looking quite alert at the table across the room, playfully bantering with Andrew, his lab partner. I had contemplated telling my boyfriend about the note, but decided against it, knowing it would only worry him more. I could just go tonight, get this whole thing taken care of, and no one would be any the wiser. I just hoped my dad would stay calm and be cooperative in my plan.<p>

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. I tried paying attention to the lesson, but unfortunately Mr. Johnson was less than entertaining, and trying to listen to him teach was unbearably boring. Just as I was about to ask Thad what page we were on, the bell rang, and everyone shot out of their seats, practically running out the door. I slowly got my books together, suddenly not so eager to get out of school. Nick walked over to my table, waving goodbye to Andrew and Peter. "Hey, you wanna grab something to eat?"

"Um, I can't," I responded, pretending to scribble something important down in my notebook.

"Come on, you have to be starving. Lunch sucked today," Nick urged, digging through his messenger bag to find his cell phone. When I didn't reply, he looked at me disbelievingly. "Oh, please don't tell me you ate that stuff. It was probably horse crap."

I shook my head and forced a laugh. "I just have a lot of homework," I lied.

Nick nodded understandingly. "I'll bring you something later. Listen, Andrew and his buddies are going to the movies tonight, and he invited you and I, so do you want to go?"

"Uh, no, I can't. Ms. Fields really laid on the Algebra, it's probably gonna take me all night. But you go ahead," I encouraged him with a small smile.

"Are you sure? I can stay here and help you with your homework and stuff," Nick offered.

"No, really, go," I responded a bit too eagerly. It would be perfect if Nick weren't around tonight; I wouldn't have to think of a lame excuse to leave. "Have fun."

"Are you alright? You seem a little…off."

"I'm great," I reassured him, stuffing all of my books into my bag.

"Okay," Nick said, still looking uncertain. "Well I'm gonna go get food, and I'll see you back in our room?"

I smiled and nodded, pecking him on the lips before we went our separate ways, both of us earning reprimanding looks from Mr. Johnson as we left.

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><p>The rest of the afternoon went by excruciatingly slowly. Obviously, I was super nervous, and I kept jumping every time Nick would talk or move. He asked me what seemed like 100 times if something was wrong, and why I was being so edgy and quiet, but I successfully shrugged it off and told him I was fine. It felt like ages before he left for the movies, but finally 7:00 came and he was gone, leaving me alone to wonder what the hell I was about to do.<p>

I don't entirely remember how I got there, but the next thing I knew I was sitting in my car outside Helda's car shop in the pitch black and pouring rain. I squinted in the darkness, trying to make out my surroundings but failing. With a deep breath I stepped out of the car, immediately getting drenched from the buckets of falling rain. I walked past the blinking neon sign and to the window of the car lot, trying to see what was inside through the dusty window.

"I'm so glad you came, Jeff."

I whipped around to find my dad standing several feet away from me, a slight smile on his face. "I didn't want to have to hurt that dapper boyfriend of yours."

"Leave Nick out of it," I demanded. "He has nothing to do with this."

"Oh, but he has everything to do with this. He's the reason why you turned gay, isn't he?" He took a few steps closer to me as I took short, shaky breaths. "He's the reason why we aren't a family anymore." He was getting closer and closer, until finally he was only centimeters from my face. "He's the reason you have this."

I winced slightly, hoping he didn't notice, as he held my wrist in between our faces so that my scar was exposed. I got that scar the night I told my dad I was gay. He'd gotten so angry that he threw his beer bottle at me, which then shattered into pieces. The glass had left a deep cut on my right wrist.

I yanked my hand away and let it fall back to my side, glaring at my dad. "Don't try to blame that stuff on Nick. You did all of that."

"You're wrong," he snapped, slapping me across the cheek. I squeezed my eyes shut at the sting, but recovered quickly. "The blame goes to you, and your stupid, ugly faggot."

To say I lost it was a bit of an understatement. I shoved my dad off of me and punched him in the nose, causing it to bleed. He glared at me for a long second before attacking me, pinning me to the concrete and punching me in the face. I tried to fight back for a bit, struggling to break from his grip, but he was too strong. He slammed me back into the ground, and I heard a snap. I squeezed my eyes shut in pain. I was pretty sure my leg was broken. He punched me in the jaw several times, and the last thing I remember was my head knocking against the brick wall of the car shop. Everything went black.

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><p>NICK'S POV<p>

I fumbled my key into the lock, laughing and telling Andrew to piss off and go to bed. "Hey, Jeff," I called out casually, not bothering to look up as I tossed my jacket on the bed and pulled out my phone. When I didn't hear a response, I curiously looked up from my phone, calling out my boyfriend's name again. When I realized he really wasn't there, I didn't think much about it, figuring he probably just went over to Thad or David's room. I went to put my keys in the desk drawer, and spotted a small piece of paper folded into fourths. I threw my keys inside and picked up the paper, reading it with wide eyes. For a few seconds I was immobilized, reading and re-reading the note. _The consequences will be severe for your precious boyfriend. _My heart broke. Jeff was out there for me._ Helda's car shop. _I had to get there.

I grabbed my keys again from the still-open drawer, frantically dashing out of the dorm room and sprinting through the corridors. I vaguely heard a few people shout at me, asking where I was going and what was wrong, but I of course ignored them, concentrating on getting back to my car. Helda's car shop. Where the hell was that? I had no idea. As I put the car in drive and made my way out onto the main road, my cell phone started ringing. Jeff? I answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"Nick, it's me. Listen, I know it's late and you're probably busy, but I need you to-"

"Mom, I really can't talk right now," I interrupted, my words rushed.

After a split second pause, Mom responded, her tone concerned. "What's going on?"

"Jeff's in trouble," I said without thinking. As soon as I'd realized what I'd said, I cursed under my breath.

"Jeff's in trouble? Where are you? Where is he? I'm coming down there," Mom said worriedly.

"I don't know. I-I found a note…from his dad…I can't…Mom, I can't find him," I said, my eyes filling with tears.

"Nick, you need to calm down. We both do," Mom muttered quickly. I heard her take a deep breath. "What did the note say?"

"Helda's. Something about Helda's car shop," I managed to get out.

"Okay, good. That's a start. Do you know where that is?" I could tell she was trying hard to keep her tone steady.

"I have no idea," I said, turning the car onto an abandoned street. Normally I would know this was a dumb idea, but my emotions seemed to be compromising my rational thoughts. Damn them.

"Listen to me, Nick. You need to call the police. Your dad's already on his way to Westerville and he'll be there as soon as possible. In the mean time, tell the police everything you know and let them take it from there. I don't need you in danger too."

"I went t-to the m-movies," I sobbed, my hands shaking as I continued down the long and winding road. "I went t-to the m-movies and I l-left him. This is a-all my fault."

"Honey, take a deep breath. This is not your fault, I promise. Right now we just need to focus on getting Jeff back unharmed, okay?"

We finished our conversation and I hung up, still driving down the deserted road. I was about to call the police when I came across a dark, rundown building that looked like an old car shop. Helda's car shop.

I've never been a particularly religious person, but I knew there had to be something up there that led me here. I bolted out of my car and into the shop, finding it to be dark and dusty. I couldn't help but think this would be a good place to hide dead bodies. That thought made my hands start shaking even more, if that was even possible.

"JEFF!" I screamed his name over and over again, not even noticing the tears still streaming down my face. I darted through all the large cardboard boxes and old car equipment to the back of the shop. I was trying all the doors, but nothing. Just as I was about to give up, I saw a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of my eye. I turned around to find my boyfriend, bruised and unconscious, slumped in the corner as if someone had placed him there. I ran to his side, hysterically sobbing now. I checked his wrist for a pulse, and was relived to find one. "Jeff? Come on, baby, wake up. Come on, Jeffie." When he remained still, I picked him up bridal-style, running out to the car and dialing 911 at the same time.

"I'm at Helda's car shop on River Point avenue," I yelled frantically into the phone. "My boyfriend's been beaten, and he's unconscious. I need someone out here. Fast."


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: So, I feel pretty horribly awful about not updating in like...3 weeks? Maybe even longer? I don't know, it's terrible. I don't even have a good excuse, because I have spent the entire winter break just being lazy. And not writing. On this story._

_I also feel guilty about this chapter being the shortest one yet...like, you'd think I'd give you a beautifully, lengthy chapter after a delay in updates, right? NOPE. I'm just gonna be a jerk and not do that. _

_So, I'll just sit here and beg for your forgiveness. And thank you so VERY much for all those lovely reviews! They are EXCELLENTLY AMAZING. I love you all. And I hope you like!_

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><p>My eyes cracked open slightly, irritated by the harshly bright light. I heard a monitor beeping, and I briefly wondered why I was in a hospital. The information soon came flooding back to me; how I had gone to Helda's car shop and met my dad, and how he had beaten me up. I wondered who had found me and brought me here. Right now I just wanted to see Nick.<p>

I looked around, observing my surroundings. There was a button to push to call for the nurse, and I supposed I should do that. I wondered how long I'd been unconscious.

Before I could push the button, a young, preppy nurse came in carrying a clipboard and a water bottle. She smiled when she saw me. "Look who's awake! How are you feeling?"

"Kinda achy, but pretty good. How long have I been here?"

"Since about 11:30 last night. And it's only 7:30 in the morning, so that's not too bad at all, right?" She grinned.

I smiled weakly and nodded. She offered me a cup of water and I took it, drinking slowly. "I'm going to let your boyfriend know you're awake," she informed me. "He's been super worried." She walked purposefully toward the waiting room, shooting me another friendly grin.

Only a few seconds had passed before Nick came running through the door, looking absolutely worn out. I could see the relief in his eyes as he walked over to me, immediately pulling me into his arms. I placed a kiss on the back of his neck before wrapping my arms around him, pulling him closer, and burying my face into his shoulder. We stayed like that for a while, content in each other's embrace. Finally he pulled away, kissing me gently on the lips and sitting on the edge of my bed. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, lacing our fingers together. "You scared the hell out of me," Nick muttered softly.

"I'm sorry," I whispered back, not meeting his eyes.

"I'm just glad you're okay." We sat in silence for another few seconds, starting at our connected hands. I noticed was still wearing what he had worn yesterday to the movies, though his jeans had a black smudge and his t-shirt was ripped. "You look awful."

He laughed, glancing down at his clothes. "It's your fault. Making me search all over kingdom come for you," he teased.

"You found me in the car shop?"

Nick nodded. "Do you remember what happened?"

I shrugged. " I just remember him beating me up until I passed out."

"The doctor said your leg is broken, and you've got some pretty bad bruises, but you'll be fine."

I nodded slowly, only now just noticing the cast on my left leg. "Did you call Mom and Dad?" I asked, afraid of the answer. If he had, I knew they both would be freaking out right now.

"Yeah, they've actually been here. They just left to go get Nana, so they'll be back anytime now. She INSISTED she saw you." I shook my head, smiling. "She's really worried about you. Everybody is. Dad was ready to punch the shit out of your dad."

Just then Dad and Mom came rushing into the room, followed by a frazzled looking Nana and an exasperated Kennedy who held Lanie. Mom ran to the side of my bed that wasn't being occupied by Nick. "Honey, are you okay?" She asked frantically.

"Oh, my poor baby!" Nana gushed, rushing over to me and pulling me into her arms. I patted her back in effort to assure her I was all right. She pulled back and pushed my bangs out of my eyes, commenting once again about how I should get them cut. "I'm fine guys. Really." I gave a reassuring smile to my whole family. Lanie squirmed in Kennedy's arms, whining loudly. I reached out for her, rubbing her back lovingly once I had her to make her quiet. She grinned up at me, giggling when I tickled her sides.

Mom smiled. "I need to go talk to your doctor about when we can get you home." She stood up, smoothing her black skirt and taking Lanie from my lap.

"I'll come with you," Nick volunteered. He kissed my forehead before following Mom out the door.

"Nana, why don't we get you some coffee?" Kennedy offered, breaking the awkward silence. "You look pretty tired." Nana followed her out the room reluctantly, telling me repeatedly that she'd be right back, and to not get into any more trouble while she was gone.

Dad and I were the only ones left the room now, and he was standing an uncomfortably large distance from the bed. There was a significant silence before I spoke. "I'm really sorry, Dad."

He sighed after another long pause. "I'm not upset with you, Jeff. It's not-God, it's not your fault." I nodded slightly and we stared at each other for a few seconds. "You're mad at my dad," I said unnecessarily.

"Of course I'm mad at him!" He yelled, startling me with his sudden outburst. "He has the nerve to come back here and hurt my son again after all this time. The bastard doesn't deserve to be your dad, much less-"

"You're my dad," I said quietly. "YOU are the one that's always taken care of me. YOU are the one that I've always looked up to. Not him. It's never been him."

Dad's expression softened and he took a few steps toward me. "I meant what I said before. He won't get away with this. The cops are looking for him, and we won't give up until they find him."

Mom and Nick came in, interrupting our conversation. "The doctor said you can come home tonight," Mom informed us. "He said other than your broken leg and some bruises, you're perfectly fine." She sighed exhaustedly, turning to face me. "You could've gotten killed, Jeff. What compelled you to do something like that?"

"Me," Nick muttered quietly, leaning against the doorway. "He did it for me."

Mom's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked from Nick to me and back to Nick. "I don't-"

"Mom, can you get me some pudding? I'd really like some pudding," I requested abruptly.

After a few seconds of further confusion, Mom seemed to get the hint and kissed my forehead, leaving with Dad for the cafeteria. "Nicky, come here." Once he was standing by my bed, I took both of his hands in mine and said firmly, "You listen to me. What happened was NOT your fault. It…it didn't even have anything to do with you. It was between me and my dad."

"Everything you do has to do with me!" Nick spat back. "Jeff, we're a couple. That means we share _everything_." I nodded and looked down, hiding the tears forming in my eyes. "You went today because the note said he was going to hurt me if you didn't show up." I nodded again, taking a shaky breath as I felt one tear spill over. "Baby, look at me." He tilted my head up to meet his eyes again, which were now probably a combination of purple from the bruises and red from the crying. "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"You wouldn't have let me g-go," I stated, sniffing quietly.

"You don't have to protect me all the time," Nick responded simply.

"Shut up, yes I do." He laughed softly, brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it. "I wish you would've told me. If I was there, maybe I could have-" I cut him off by pulling his lips down to mine and kissing them gently. "You don't have to protect me all the time," I repeated with a smile.

"Shut up, yes I do."


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hey everyone! Here's chapter 10 :) Sorry it's a bit short again. I'm just so freaking busy, I barely have time to work on this at all! It's quite sad actually :( Thanks so much for reading this though, and thanks for all those reviews! You guys are DA BOMB. Oh, and this one is entirely Nick's POV, but the next chapter will be back to Jeff's POV._

_I haven't been doing these...so I probably should. Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN GLEE_

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><p>NICK'S POV<p>

I quietly clicked my bedroom door shut and tiptoed down the stairs, running a hand through my dirty brown hair. I made my way to the kitchen, only now just realizing I hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. I was bound to be hungry, but I didn't really feel it. I found my mom and Nana sitting at the kitchen table, chatting quietly over cups of coffee.

"He's asleep," I sighed, taking the coffee mug and pouring myself a cup. I pulled a chair out at the table and collapsed into it, taking a large gulp of my drink.

"Since when do you drink black coffee?" Mom asked, looking at me questioningly.

I looked down at the cup, noticing that it indeed was black. "Since Jeff went to an abandoned car shop to meet his dad and got beat up and took 2 hours to go to sleep."

"You should eat something, dear," Nana urged gently.

"I just don't get it," I said, ignoring my grandma. "He seemed fine at the hospital. Other then, you know, the broken leg."

"He's been through a lot, honey. It's normal for him to be anxious," Mom explained, taking another sip from her cup. "Don't worry, it'll get better."

"It's weird for him to be this clingy. He doesn't want me to leave his side."

"Or do _you _not want to leave _his _side?" Mom questioned, a knowing smile growing on her face.

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to admit she was probably right. "It was like this last time too," I said, referring back to 8th grade when Jeff's dad had last physically abused him. "He wouldn't sleep in his own bed for weeks."

"Or would YOU not sleep in YOUR own bed for weeks?" Nana asked teasingly.

I sighed, loudly setting my coffee cup on the table. "You guys are being really annoying."

Mom laughed as she got up, rinsing out her mug and sticking it in the dishwasher. "We aren't judging you, honey. You've been through a lot too, your behavior is completely expected."

"Yeah, well. I feel like if I take my eyes off of him for more than 20 minutes he'll do something stupid again," I ranted, walking over to the counter and grabbing an apple. I took a large bite before adding, "And it really pisses me off."

"You're mad that you don't want to leave Jeff for more than 20 minutes?" Nana asked confusedly.

"No, I'm mad at Jeff for being stupid! He should've told me about the note. I mean, he could've freakin' died!" I said while chomping loudly on my apple.

"You're not mad at Jeff," Mom said matter-of-factly. "You're mad at yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"You're mad at yourself for not being there to save him," Mom said simply.

"Boys are so oblivious," Nana added with a smirk.

Mom sighed in agreement. "Nick, it's your nature to be overprotective. But I promise you, there was nothing you could've done. You had no way of knowing something was wrong."

"But I did know something was wrong. Jeff had been acting weird all day, and I ignored it and went to the freaking movies. It was a crappy movie, too, about this dumb-ass guy who found this-"

"Honey, the point is, you have no reason to be mad at yourself. You're not at fault here. Jeff's dad is the bad guy, okay?"

I nodded. I had to believe them. I knew they didn't blame me, and I knew Jeff didn't blame me, but it was hard not to blame myself. I felt dumb for believing Jeff when he told me over and over again he was fine when he clearly wasn't. I knew something was up and I just ignored it.

I threw my apple core in the trashcan. "I should get back upstairs. If Jeff wakes up and I'm not there, he's gonna FLIP." I ran back up the stairs, hearing Nana chuckle once I left the room and mumble to Mom, "Do you think Jeff's going to be the one flipping out?"

I rolled my eyes. Whatever. I slipped back in my bedroom, careful no to wake my sleeping boyfriend.

Sleep.

That sounded nice.

I crawled into bed next to Jeff, snuggling up to him and sighing softly. I was almost asleep when a loud buzzing noise jerked me awake. It was Jeff's damn cell phone. I glanced over at the blonde lying next to me, and he remained still.

I reached across him to the nightstand on his side of the bed, not too worried about waking him up since he was apparently dead to the world. The caller ID was unknown, so I figured it was probably a wrong number, but I answered it just in case. "Hello?

"Is this Jeff Sterling?" I heard a soft-spoken, younger sounding woman ask.

"Um, no, but this is Jeff's phone. Who's calling?"

"I'm with the Westerville police department. I have some news for Jeff, so if you could have him call me back, that'd be-"

Westerville police department? What was this about? "Uh, hold on. I think I hear him coming in now," I lied. "One second." One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. I cleared my throat, ready to do my best 'Jeff' impersonation possible. "This is Jeff." Oh God, that was awful. I sounded like a 10-year-old girl with a stuffy nose.

"Hi, Mr. Sterling, my name is Lisa Roberts. I'm an officer at Westerville police department. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

I cleared my throat again, trying harder to sound like Jeff this time. "Yes ma'am, what is it?" I mentally slapped myself. Ma'am? Seriously, Nick, since when does Jeff say ma'am?

"Your father's body was found in a Mrs. Sheila Delaney's apartment on South Brook Street today. He had a gun in his hand. I'm very sorry."

"He…he killed himself?" I chocked out, forgetting all about trying to sound like Jeff.

"I'm afraid so. Do you know Mrs. Delaney?"

"Uhh…um, no. No, I don't think so. How did you…uh, how did you get this number?"

"You were the only person listed on your father's emergency contacts. He had also made several recent calls to this number," the woman explained.

"Oh," was all I managed to get out.

"Is there anyone else I can contact?"

I shook my head, and then realized she couldn't see me. "No, just me. Thank you."

"Again, I'm very sorry for your loss." We hung up, and I sat on the side of the bed for a few minutes, still in a state of shock. How the hell was I supposed to tell Jeff that his dad committed suicide? This definitely qualified as a shitty week.

I groaned quietly, dragging myself out of bed and back downstairs. Mom was still in the kitchen, joined by Dad. Nana had apparently gone to bed. Mom smiled when she saw me. "What happened to Jeff flipping out?" Her face immediately fell when she saw the expression on mine. "Honey, what's wrong? Is Jeff okay?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, taking a deep breath. "Yes, he's fine. I got a call from Westerville police department. Er, Jeff did."

"What happened?" Dad asked with concern.

"Jeff's dad…he, um. He committed suicide."

Mom's jaw opened slightly in shock. "Whe-how…what?" I nodded, staring off into space. "Does Jeff know?"

"No. And how am I supposed to tell him?"

"Do it gently," Mom advised.

"Yeah. Like, buy him some of those donuts he likes," Dad added.

"Really, Dad? I don't think donuts would soften the blow too much on this one."

"The sooner the better," Mom said. "I know it'll be hard, but he has to know as soon as possible. It will be better for both of you."

Our conversation was interrupted by a loud thud. I shot out of my seat. "Omigod. He's awake! What do I do?"

"First, go make sure he didn't just die," Dad joked. Mom slapped him lightly on the arm.

I scrambled up the stairs and into the first door on the right, finding Jeff on the floor, looking up at me pitifully. "Hi, Nicky."

I groaned, kneeling down beside him to help him sit up. "Jeff, what were you doing?"

"I was thirsty."

"What did you call me?"

"Nick, I'm perfectly capable of getting my own water," Jeff defended himself.

"Babe, you have a broken leg."

After a long pause, Jeff mumbled, "Whatever."

I chuckled, picking Jeff up and carrying him back to the bed, careful not to hurt his broken leg. I laid him down, propping his leg up on some pillows, and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Listen, Jeffy, I have to tell you something."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: CHAPTER 11 :D Don't you guys just love me? Only like, 3 weeks since I last updated...:P Anyway, I hope this satisfies you all (: The fluffy ending is completely pointless, but I just sort of tired of writing angsty stuff. Reviews are like chocolate cake with ice cream to me. So you should give me a ton. Thanks, readers! (Also, sorry for any typos, I haven't re-read this since I typed it up. I probably should...but yeah, I'm not going to.) _

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><p>"Listen, Jeffie, I need to tell you something." Nick's tone was serious, and not just normal serious, but <em>serious <em>serious. Like something was really wrong.

'What is it?"

"First you have to promise not to be mad at me," Nick pleaded. "I don't want to be the one to have to tell you this, but-"

"Nick. Just tell me," I said forcefully.

He took a deep breath. "I got a call while you were asleep," he started slowly. "It was from Westerville Police Department." He paused, acting like it was really hard to continue.

"Go on," I urged. A strange feeling was churning in the pit of my stomach, because I KNEW this wasn't good.

"Your dad committed suicide," Nick blurted out.

The first thing that ran through my mind was that Nick really didn't know how to break bad news to people, and that I should probably talk to him about that at a later time. Then a bunch of weird feelings arose, like sadness, anger, fear, and relief. I couldn't exactly tell why I was feeling any of those things. Except maybe the relief part. I didn't have to worry about my dad harming me or my family anymore. It was over. Permanently. So why was I sad about his death?

"Jeff, can you please say something?" Nick whispered anxiously. I looked up and found his face full of worry.

"Umm…" What was I supposed to say? 'Oh, that's all right, people die everyday. Do you want to go out for pizza?' Somehow that didn't seem appropriate. "What else did the cops tell you?"

"Just that they found him in an apartment owned by Ms. Sheila Delaney sometime this morning. Do you know her?"

I shook my head. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I brushed it off. I had more important things to think about than who Sheila Delaney was. What was I supposed to do? I'm pretty sure my dad didn't keep in contact with any of his family, and any friends he might have presently I'm unaware of. Should I like, plan a funeral? I don't think anyone would come. Plus, I'm only seventeen freaking years old. How the heck was I supposed to plan a funeral?

"I'm kinda lost," I told Nick honestly. I realized after I said it that it sounded a lot more depressing than I intended it to. "What should I do now?"

"I don't really know," Nick admitted. "But I already told Mom and Dad, and I'm sure they'll take care of all the practical stuff." I nodded. "Should we call anybody?"

I thought about this. I didn't talk to anyone in my family anymore, except I still received a birthday card every year from my Aunt Phillipa. She's really old though. Actually might even be dead. I wasn't too concerned about informing her.

I thought of my mom. If I could even find out how to contact her, which alone is practically impossible, would she care? Would she want me to call her? Do I even want to call her? The thought of even just hearing her voice makes my stomach start churning again. Though, she had to know eventually, I guess. I decided I'd leave that up to the police.

I shook my head in answer to Nick's question. "No one I can think of."

"Right. You know, you should get some more sleep," he said uncomfortably, obviously trying to end this conversation.

"I just woke up."

"Oh yeah."

After a pause, I exhaled a small sigh. "Nicky?"

"Yeah?"

"How am I supposed to feel about this?"

"How do you feel about this?" Nick countered.

"I don't know. Relieved, mostly. And sad. But I don't know why I'm sad," I said truthfully. My dad had been a jerk to me for practically my whole life, why should I care if he's gone? I should be jumping for joy right now.

"You have every right to be sad, Jeff, Nick said, taking my hand. "You're dad may have been awful, but he was still your dad. You two still shared some great times together."

"Like what? Throwing beer bottles at my face?" I said sarcastically.

"No, I mean before that. When you were really little. What about the time when you were in 1st grade and he took you to the Reds game?" Nick said, remembering the story I had told him over two years ago. I shifted my eyes, not wanting to let the happy memories flood in. They were too painful. Probably even more painful than the bad memories.

"Or what about the time he taught you how to play poker? And you were the only kid in 4th grade that knew how to play," Nick recalled with a smile.

I smiled slightly too. "I bragged about that for weeks."

Nick laughed, squeezing my hand. He lifted my chin to meet his eyes, his expression more serious now. "I know it's hard to think about the good times. But if you just try to let all the other stuff go, and remember your dad for who he was before all the crap, I guarantee you it will be easier."

"I don't know if I can do that," I said honestly. I had way more bad memories of my dad than good.

"I'll help you," Nick offered. I smiled at him weakly before there was a knock on the door. Mom entered hesitantly, holding Lanie with her right arm. "Is it okay to come in?"

"Sure," Nick said.

Mom smiled, walking over to the side of the bed I was laying on. "A certain little girl woke up and was just dying to see you," she said to me, bouncing Lanie on her hip oce.

"Holdu, 'effie!" Lanie whined, sticking her arms out toward me.

"Hey Lane," I grinned, taking the baby from Mom and kissing her cheek with an audible smack. "You should be in bed, you know." I set her in my lap and started playing with her feet, making her burst into giggles. I didn't miss it when Mom mouthed 'did you tell him?' to Nick, who responded with a nod.

"Jeff, I know this is a lot to deal with, but I don't want you to worry. I'll handle everything with the police," Mom said gently.

I nodded. A long pause followed. I breathed in the calming scent of Lanie's hair, which smelled like baby shampoo. Nick picked at a thread in the bedspread and Mom picked up all the dirty clothes on our floor and threw them in the hamper. She always straightened when she was nervous. Finally, when our room was practically spotless, Mom spoke up. "Honey, if you feel like you want to talk to somebody, I'll call Ms. Blunt at school and set up-"

"I don't need a councilor," I interrupted. "I'm fine, really."

"You've been through a lot. Sometimes talking to Nick or me isn't enough."

I didn't respond. I didn't want to talk to anybody besides Nick. He was the only person that actually understood me. I guess Mom eventually realized that, or maybe she just didn't want to argue with me right now, because she let out a sigh and told us to get some sleep.

I feel like I've been sleeping a lot lately. "I just woke up," I pointed out again.

"But it's late."

Maybe it's the fact that it indeed was late, 1:30am to be exact, or the fact that I had been through some pretty traumatic experiences in the last 48 hours, but I did actually feel quite tired. "Okay," I relented. Nick and I both hugged Lanie before handing her to Mom. She kissed both of our foreheads and left, shutting the door behind her. There was another long period of silence; Nick and I just sitting on the bed, lost in our own thoughts. Eventually I told him he smelled bad and needed to change clothes. He laughed and said I didn't smell that great either.

"Why do you think he did it?" I asked, realizing this is the question that had been bothering me the most.

Nick pulled off his t-shirt and jeans and threw them on the floor. So much for straightening up. "People like that just aren't in the right frame of mind, Jeff."

"But there's always a reason. What do you think it was?" I asked again.

Nick sighed, pulling on a plain white t-shirt and Dalton sweat pants. "I think," he started, climbing onto the bed to sit next to me. "That he didn't think he could handle it anymore."

"Handle what?"

"Life. Pain. Loneliness. Hurting you."

"He didn't care about me," I said harshly.

Nick shrugged. "Maybe not. Or maybe he was just too consumed by alcohol to even think straight."

"Are you defending him?" I asked angrily.

"Of course not," Nick reassured me. "I was more pissed at him than anybody. But now that he's dead…what's the point of being angry?"

"He abused me! He broke my freaking leg and told me I was worthless. I never have to forgive him for that."

"You're right."

"Shut up!"

"I said you were right!"

"No, you're right, which is why you need to shut up."

Nick chuckled and pulled the blanket over us, curling up to my side. "Listen, babe. All I'm really saying is. You're dad might have really cared about you, but he was just too drunk and insane to see it."

I wrapped my arm around his shoulders lovingly. "He hated me for being gay. That's all there is to it."

"He hated the fact that you are gay. But that doesn't necessarily mean he hated you. You were his son, after all," Nick said.

I stroked the brunette's shoulder, thinking about what he said. Maybe my dad really didn't hate me. But that doesn't even make sense; he beat the shit out of me several times. It was just hopeful thinking. But what did it matter now? He's dead.

"I'm tired of all of this," I whispered. "I want things to go back to the way they were before we had to run into my stupid dad at the movies."

"I know," Nick whispered back. "Me too."

"Everything was going great until he had to be a dick and harass me again."

Nick sighed. After a pause, he commented, "A lot of bad things have happened at the movies lately."

"It's a curse."

"We should probably avoid them for a while."

"What about when The Hunger Games comes out? I'm not about to miss that movie, Nick."

"Go to sleep, Jeff." Nick snuggled closer to me and laid his head on my chest.

"I'll try."

…

"Nicky, are you still awake?"

"Yes, dear, it's only been about 10 seconds since we last talked."

"But you didn't tell me you loved me."

Nick lifted his head from it position on my chest and looked at me quizzically. "Huh?"

"Before you go to sleep you ALWAYS tell me you love me. Why didn't you?"

Nick smiled. "I love you, Jeff."

"Now you're just saying that because I brought it up," I mumbled. He pressed a long, chaste kiss to my lips and rested his forehead on mine. His right hand wrapped around my neck and stroked my hair. "I love you, Jeff," he repeated.

I smiled, satisfied. "I love you, too."


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Heyy everybody. Here's chapter 12! We're getting very close to the end of this baby...like 1 or 2 more chapters. I'm working on another fic that's related to this (sort of..not really...idk) and I'm super excited about it. So, yeah. Watch out for that in a few weeks. or a month. or two months. I don't really know. Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites, alerts, and just for reading! You guys are so amazing and I love you (: I don't own Glee, btw_

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><p>I jolted awake, startled by the sound of the phone ringing downstairs. Nick stirred beside be, nuzzling his face into my shoulder. I checked the alarm clock. 9:45. I was glad I had slept through to whole night, I guess. My leg did sort of hurt though.<p>

"Morning, sleepy," I whispered, kissing the top of Nick's head. He mumbled something incoherent into my neck. "What?"

"It's not morning," he said louder. "Go back to sleep."

"Actually, it's nine-forty five. AM. Last time I checked, AM meant morning."

"Go back to sleep," Nick croaked again.

I sighed into the brown hair underneath my nose, and pulled a face at the smell of it. "You seriously need to shower."

Nick grunted and pulled away, rolling to his side of the bed, out of my reach. "Happy?"

I frowned. "No."

"Didn't think so."

"Hey, boys," Mom greeted, coming into the room. "I'm glad you're awake."

"I'm not," Nick grumbled, pulling the comforter up over his head.

Mom chuckled. "So I need you guys to watch Lanie for me today. Nana has book club and your dad and I will most likely be spending the entire day working out details about Mr. Sterling's death and Jeff's welfare."

"Sounds like a blast," Nick mumbled into his pillow.

"Where's Kennedy?" I asked.

"School, of course," Mom said with a laugh.

Oh, yeah. It was Thursday. I thought about how much school I was going to miss and dreaded all the work I was going to have to make up. I decided to put the thought out of my head.

"Speaking of Kennedy, though, I need you to pick her up today, Nick."

"And leave my handicapped boyfriend alone with a toddler?" Nick asked, lifting his head from the pillow to look at Mom disbelievingly.

"Don't worry about me," I piped up. "Lane and I will be just fine."

Mom looked a little uncertain, but agreed as long Nick and I both kept our cell phones on in case I needed anything.

"Well, I guess that's about it. Dad is waiting for me downstairs. Be careful," she said in a very motherly tone, kissing us both goodbye. "And make sure to stay off your feet as much as possible, Jeff," she instructed as she left.

Nick turned to me. "Well, Jeffy-bear, what do you want to do today?" He asked, trying to muster up some enthusiasm.

"Go skiing," I said sarcastically.

"How about a movie?"

"That's not skiing."

"Well…we could watch a movie about skiing?"

I chuckled. "I was kidding, babe. I need to text Trent to see if he can email me his lab notes, and then we can watch a movie. Not about skiing," I added.

Nick smiled, hopping off the bed to check our stash of movies and pick one out. "I kinda like this whole 'no school thing.' You should break your leg more often."

I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone, typing a quick text to Trent. I ignored all my other messages from various people inquiring about my health. I'd have my personal secretary, aka Nick, fill them in later. "What did you pick out?"

'All of our good movies are at Dalton. The only ones we have here are Ice Age, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Princess Diaries 2," Nick said, reading off the titles.

I snorted. "Why do we have Princess Diaries 2?"

"It's Kennedy's," Nick explained.

"Yeah, but why is it in our room?"

"Don't ever under appreciate Julie Andrews or Anne Hathaway, Jeffrey," Nick said seriously, ignoring my question and popping the movie into the DVD player before crawling back into bed.

"I knew you'd pick that one," I grumbled.

Nick grinned and I pulled him into my embrace, settling in for two hours of unbearable cheesiness.

The morning and early afternoon went by more quickly than expected. Nick and I watched all three of the movies in our room, plus a couple we found downstairs that were Dad's. We had eaten most of the popcorn we owned, plus about seventy million Pepsis each, which was probably a mistake on my part since getting up to pee wasn't all that easy anymore. 2:30 came around pretty fast and it was time for Nick to go pick up Kennedy.

"I'll be back soon, okay? Try not to move too much. Lanie should stay asleep the whole time I'm gone," Nick said.

"Nick, I have a mending broken leg. I'm not exactly terminal," I said from my place on the couch.

"Just be careful. And don't get up for anything unless you absolutely have to." Nick kissed my forehead. "Love you."

"Love you," I mumbled distractedly back as he slammed the door. I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until deciding that the crap they played on Thursday afternoons was really not worth watching at all. I decided maybe I could take a nap, but having not done anything all day, I wasn't particularly tired. I needed to keep my mind busy, though. Just sitting here made me think about my dad too much.

I reached over to the end table for my book that I had to read for English. Shakespeare. More specifically, Hamlet. It kinda sucked. Might as well get something done, though.

After about 20 minutes of miserably reading my book, I was interrupted by the phone ringing. I knew I only had four rings to get to the kitchen and answer it, and that was practically impossible, but I sat up and got my crutches as fast as possible. By the time I got there, the phone had stopped ringing, but I just hit the dial button to call them back.

"Jeff? What the hell are you doing on the house phone?" I heard a familiar voice say.

"Nick? What the hell are you calling me on the house phone for?" I said, mimicking his tone.

"I was…nevermind."

"You were testing me," I said matter-of-factly.

"You shouldn't be getting up the answer the phone, Jeff!"

"I'm hanging up now." I set the phone down on the counter, rolling my eyes. I had just stumbled back into the living room and fallen back on the couch when the phone rang again. I sighed, annoyed. I felt kinda stupid that I forgot to just bring the phone in here, but whatever. I managed to get to the phone in time this go round. "Nick, if you don't quit calling me, I swear I'm-"

"Jeff, honey? It's Mom."

"Oh, " I sighed. "Hey Mom."

"I was jut making sure you're doing alright."

"I'm fine."

"We've been in meeting after meeting with different officers and attorneys. Everything's been practically worked out, so we'll be home pretty soon."

"Mmkay."

"I'll fill you in more when we get home."

"Mmkay."

"Be careful."

"Mmkay…loveyoubye." I hung up, sighing loudly before walking back to the living room, bringing the phone with me this time. I had read no more than one more page of Hamlet before I was cut off by a loud cry from a certain toddler upstairs. I groaned, fighting the urge to pound my head against the wall. I grabbed my crutches again and stumbled my way to the foot of the stairs before realizing it was no simple task to climb them without assistance. Nick and I hadn't really thought about that.

As I was contemplating the best way to tackle this situation, the doorbell rang. OH. MY. GOSH. Could this afternoon get any worse?

Actually, yeah, it probably could. But whatever.

I walked the few steps to the door and swung it open gruffly, feeling pretty miffed. I almost went into shock when I saw who was standing in front of me. "Mom. What are you doing here?"


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Heyyyoooo everyone. I'm not gonna waste your all's time by apologizing profusely at how long it's taken this chapter to get up here, cause that'd be annoying. I really have had most of it written for some time now, it was just doing the last minute editing stuff that took forevs. So sorry. And I hope you like! T_here will be one more chapter after this one. Which is happy. And sad. *sigh* :(_ thank you thank you THANK YOU for reading and reviewing! please keep those babies comin! _

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><p>"Mom. What are you doing here?"<p>

"Oh, Jeffrey! I've missed you," my mom cried, pulling me into a tight hug that lasted way too long. I shifted uncomfortably, not making any effort to show her some affection in return. I was actually disgusted she was even here. "How has my baby been?"

"I'm swell, thanks."

"May I come in?"

I opened the door wider and she stepped in, curiously inspecting the house. I took a minute to really look at her. Her image was slut trying to be classy, which just failed and made her plain ugly to me. Her blonde hair that was exactly the same shade as mine used to be beautifully curly was now obviously dyed. She was skinny, but she had awkwardly large hip bones that you couldn't help but stare at. I couldn't help drawing comparisons between my two mothers, and decided that my brunette one was so much prettier they didn't even compare. My mom turned back to me and gasped when she saw my leg. "Jeffrey! What happened?"

"My leg is broken," I mumbled.

"Oh, my, let me see-"

"I'm really fine, thanks," I said, taking a step backwards. "Can I ask why you're here?"

"I heard about your father," my mom explained, walking into the living room and unbuttoning her coat. "The police called me. I'm so sorry, Jeffy."

"Yeah, it's rather unfortunate," I said dryly, plopping back down on the couch and leaning my crutches against the armchair.

My mom sat down in the loveseat opposite of me, straightening her skirt. "I know you're probably mad at me-"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

"Jeff, watch your language," a voice from behind me rebuked. I turned around to find Nick and Kennedy standing there, the latter looking rather surprised and Nick just looking pissed but trying to hide it.

"Hi, babe, I'm glad you're home," I said extremely cheerfully. For some reason, I wanted to rub my relationship with Nick in my mom's face until she screamed. She never knew Nick and I were more than best friends, even though we had been dating for a month or two before she left. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Uh…w-we came in through the back," Kennedy stuttered.

"Jeff, you didn't tell me we were expecting company," Nick said with a fake smile, advancing toward the couch. I remembered the whining toddler upstairs when Nick said, "Kennedy, can you go take care of Lanie, please?"

"Um…sure," Kennedy said, giving me a confused glance before bounding up the stairs. Nick sat down on the couch next to me, eyeing my mom suspiciously. "Mrs. Sterling, it's so lovely to see you," Nick said hospitably, turning to me and pecking my lips. I took his hand and kissed the back of it lovingly, intertwining our fingers.

My mom just sat there, stunned for a few seconds before choking out, "Jeffrey, is this some kind of joke?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know what I mean!" She exclaimed, staring at our hands in disgust.

"Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn't know about that, considering you never paid an ounce of attention toward me. Nick and I have been together for almost 3 years now."

"Th-wh-what? No, that's-"

"Yeah, he's sort of the love of my life. Isn't that great?" I said with a fake grin.

"That's preposterous! Jeff, let go of his hand right now! No son of mine will behave like this!"

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not your son then," I said coldly.

"Jeff, you are only 17 years old. I still have custody of you."

"Yeah, I'm sure when the cops hear the whole story of how you abandoned me for 3 years, they'll be totally convinced you're a good mom," I said sarcastically.

My mom sighed. "Listen, Jeff, we can get past all of that. I know you're upset about me leaving, but you have to know I had no idea of how your father was treating you. I've only just found out yesterday when the police called. If I would've known, I never would have left."

I glared at her. "That is a load of bullshit, and you know it. You knew all along how he abused me and you just didn't care! You didn't give two shits about either of us; all you cared about was your stupid job. You let him beat me over and over again, and you did nothing to protect me. I can't ever forgive you for that."

"Jeff, please, just calm down. I have an explanation," my mom said quietly.

"Well it better be a damn good one."

She took a deep breath before responding, "I didn't leave your father because of work. He was…he was having an affair."

It really shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did, because _really _who was screwed up enough to want my dad? "With who?"

"His business partner, Sheila Delaney." So THAT'S why the name sounded familiar. Dad committed suicide in his lover's apartment. How touching. "So you never went to Japan?"

My mom shook her head. "I've been living in Kentucky."

"Oh, cool! So you not only neglected me but you also LIED to me! That's great, mom. You're right, the explanation fixed everything. No hard feelings," I yelled, wishing more than anything I didn't have a broken leg so I could get up and punch this bitch in the face.

"Jeff, you have to understand my point of view! Things were really tough, both financially and emotionally…I made a bad decision, but I'm here to fix it now."

"Sometimes decisions are so bad you can't just fix them," I snapped.

"Over time, everything will heal and you'll forgive me, I just know it," she said desperately. "I have a proposition for you. I want you to come live with me in Kentucky. It's a very beautiful location; I know you'd love it. The local high school is very adequate, and you'd fit in there nicely. I have an apartment, and we could-"

"No!" I interrupted frantically. "No, no, no a million times no. I'm not leaving Ohio or Dalton or Nick or my family, so just drop it!"

"I know it would be a hard transition, but you'd adjust well to-"

"Shut up!" I screamed. "I'm not moving and you can't make me!"

"Why don't you just think this through, Jeff-"

"He said he didn't want to go," Nick jumped in, standing defiantly. Oh, yeah, I totally forgot he was here. "So I think you should leave."

My mom glared at my boyfriend for a few seconds, deciding whether or not to obey him. Eventually she stood to leave, making one last comment, "I do still have custody of you, Jeff. And I can choose to enforce that at any time."

"Wha-"

"Goodbye, Mrs. Sterling," Nick said firmly, escorting her out and slamming the door behind her.

"Can she really take me away?" I asked.

"I don't know," Nick admitted sitting beside me on the couch.

"That's freaking stupid! I'll be 18 in like, 9 months. I should have a say in this," I ranted.

Nick took my head gently, placed it in his lap, and started running his fingers through my hair. As much as I wanted to be angry right now, this soothed me so much that I calmed down considerably. "Listen, she was probably just threatening you. And if she wasn't, there's no way she would get to take you away. Mom and Dad have been taking care of you for 3 years, paying for you to go to Dalton and everything. That counts for something, I promise."

I nodded, hoping he was right. I shifted my body and turned my head so I could see his face. "I can't leave you."

Nick smiled. "Don't worry about that."

I smiled back. "You're beautiful."

Nick laughed. "_You're _beautiful."

"No, I'm beautiful." Nick and I looked up to find Dad standing there, apparently having just gotten home.

"You wish," Mom muttered, walking past him and collapsing on the loveseat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dad questioned with a frown, sitting down next to her.

"Never mind, dear."

Nick and I shared a look and rolled our eyes. "How'd it go?" I asked.

"As good as can be expected, I guess," Mom sighed, "The burial for your dad is all worked out. And we can go, if you want. To say a final goodbye."

"Of course I don't want to go," I said strongly.

Mom shrugged. "It's up to you. Just think about it. We got everything arranged and paid for."

"Why it took so long is beyond me," Dad grumbled. Mom smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "How'd it go here?"

I shrugged, lifting my head from Nick's lap and sitting up. "Oh, you know, the usual. Sat around and watched movies all day since I can't do anything with this broken leg, got up to answer the phone a gazillion times, took care of a screaming baby, and the greatest of all, got rid of my long lost mother who stopped by and tried to get me to move back in with her."

Mom sat there for a while with a blank stare while Dad chuckled sarcastically, "That's about how my days usually go, too."

"Can she force him to leave us, Mom?" Nick asked.

Mom shook her head slightly to snap out of her daze. "Of course not. Can she, Chuck?"

"I doubt it. I'll call Agent Booker's office tonight to confirm. Don't worry about it, Jeff," Dad said.

"We won't let anything happen to you," Mom said gently.

Later that night, I was falling asleep, curled up next to Nick who watching some crappy MTV show about teenagers who screw up their lives, when he spoke up loudly, "Do you think abortions are wrong?"

I started, groaning and kicking him in the shin. "I was sleeping, douche bag."

"Sorry. It's just that this chick on this show is going to get an abortion, and I was like 'what if my mom had gotten an abortion?' and then I was like 'what if _Jeff's_ mom had gotten an abortion?' and then I got really depressed and decided that abortions are horrible but I wanted your opinion on it before I decided for sure."

I rubbed my forehead, trying to comprehend all of those words. "This is too much for me right now," I resigned.

Dad knocked lightly on the already-open door to announce his presence. "Hey, kids. I called Agent Booker, and he said that there probably isn't anything to worry about. He said that legally Mrs. Sterling is still a guardian of Jeff, but since you're turning 18 in just over 6 months it would be extremely difficult for her to take you back now, especially because of her history of leaving you and that I've been the one to feed your skinny ass for the past hundred years."

I let out a sigh of relief and chuckled. "Thanks, Dad."

"No problem, kiddo. I can't believe you're turning 18 in less than 6 months," he sighed sadly. "My kids are so old. _I'm _so old."

"Goodnight, Dad."

"Don't you want me to tuck you in like I did when you were little?"

"Good_night_, Dad."

"Yeah, okay, goodnight."


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: No, I have not fallen off the face of earth. I'm just an extremely awful person who does not deserved to be loved. _

_I'm so freaking sorry you guys. I hope you all are still with me! If you are, God flipping bless you. Okay. So this is the last chapter. And it's pretty short, but the ending is freaking cute if I say so myself :) All my readers & reviewers and everything - I love you all so much. The fact that you took the time to read this makes me want to cry with joy. Not really, but you guys rock my world. Our nerdy shared love of niff will always make me smile. Check out my other stories, and make sure to keep an eye out for any new stuff I post! Yay! Okay, so without farther adieu, I give you your final chapter._

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><p>"Are you sure?"<p>

"Yes."

"Are you positive?"_  
><em>

"Yes."

"…really? Cause Mom and Dad-"

"Yeah, I know."

"I think you should."

"I don't really give two craps what you think!" I snapped. "This is my dad's funeral and I don't have to go if I don't want to!"

Nick raised his hands innocently. "Okay, calm your tits dude. I'm not gonna make you."

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed."

Nick nodded and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. "Sit down and tell me your troubles."

I chuckled and obliged, setting my crutches down and (with help from Nick) managed to awkwardly sit myself beside my boyfriend. "I'm just confused. Like, I feel like I should go to the funeral, but then again I don't feel obligated to at all since the guy beat the living crap out of me and scarred me for life. And a part of me feels bad that if I don't go, no one will be there besides like, Mom and Dad and the funeral guy. But I don't really care because he didn't deserve friends because he was a jerk so he can just rot in hell. But honestly I just want this all to be over because we have to take SATs soon and I have 3 tests on Monday about shit I don't even know because I've missed so much school and I have to write a paper on global warming that's due Tuesday, and I really just want to get back to Dalton and go to Warblers' practice and learn the dance moves to our new song so I don't screw everyone up next month at regionals, and-"

"Whoa, honey, slow down," Nick interrupted. "Listen to me, you don't have to worry about that stuff. Everything will work out. I promise, I'll help you. We're in this together."

I nodded, laying my head on his shoulder. Nick wrapped one arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. "So are you gonna go?" He asked, stroking my side gently.

I looked up at him and nodded. "I guess so. But only if you come too."

"Since when do we go anywhere without each other?" Nick joked. I cracked a smile as he kissed my cheek and stood up, offering his hand. "Come on, I'm hungry."

"I thought we were going to the funeral," I said, gripping his hand and getting my crutches to stand up.

"Yeah, but we're not leaving for like another 5 minutes. And you know what my motto is…"

"A moment without eating is a moment wasted."

Nick grinned at me. "This is why I date you."

"Glad to know it's not cause you love me or anything, that'd be creepy."

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><p>The funeral was nice. I mean, as nice as a funeral can be. There were 10 people there: me, Nick, Mom, Dad, Kennedy, Lanie, the guy who sold us the casket, some freaky trucker dude who no one knew, somebody who used to work with my dad, and Sheila Delaney. And of course the people who were going to bury the body, but I didn't really count them since they were talking on the phone in Spanish the whole time. Afterward, Mom made me stay and thank everyone for coming, which only took about 30 seconds. I talked to Sheila Delaney for a few minutes, who was surprisingly calm about my father's death. The only thing she seemed concerned about was his money and who it was going to. After everyone had said their final goodbyes and left, Mom, Dad, Kennedy, and Lanie made their way back to the car, leaving Nick and I alone with my dad's casket.<p>

"You want to…you know, say something?"

I looked at him confusedly. "To who?"

"Your dad," he replied, gesturing towards the casket.

"That's silly, Nick. He can't hear me."

"Maybe he can. Listen, I'll just wait for you over here," he said, walking toward a nearby tree.

"Wha-no, I don't want to say anything! Nick, hold on!" I sighed as he ignored me and stood firmly by the tree, looking at everything other than me.

"Jerk," I muttered. What was I supposed to say? Talking to dead people wasn't easy, not to mention it made you look like a total idiot. I took a deep breath. "Dad, it's me. Jeff. I uh, don't really know what to say to you since you're like. Dead. You were…definitely the biggest jerk ever. At least to me. And I can't ever forgive you for everything you did to me, but I'm not really angry anymore. Cause it's pointless to be angry at a dead person." I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Nick said to try and remember all the good times we had together and forget about the bad stuff. And I'm really trying. Because I hope that deep down, like reeeeally deep down, you weren't a bad person. And you didn't mean all the things you said and did, it was just…the alcohol and whatever other crap you did. So…yeah." I looked over at Nick, who was still standing by the tree, pretending not to have heard all of that. "You happy now?" I asked him sarcastically.

He walked over, standing beside me and facing the casket. "Don't you feel better?"

"Not really."

Nick smiled, shaking his head. "I'm really proud of you for coming, Jeff. I know it wasn't easy."

"No kidding. Walking across a graveyard with a broken leg is very challenging."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. But you still have to carry me back to the car," I grinned, dropping my crutches to the ground.

"I never agreed to this," Nick defended.

"Doesn't matter. You have to do it anyway."

He sighed, picking me up with an exaggerated groan. "I'm going to drop you and break your other leg just to be mean."

"No you're not," I said, snuggling into his chest.

"You're lucky I love you."

We trudged slowly back tot eh car – well, Nick trudged and I gloated in my ability to play the sorrowful cripple – and I thought about stuff. Like, how people like my dad probably deserved to die, but it still doesn't fix everything. I would always have memories of my dad; good ones and bad ones. But the victory came in my ability to live – and be happy – despite them.

"Yeah," I said to Nick. I looked back, but I could no longer see my dad's casket beyond the sea of headstones. "Yeah, I am lucky."


End file.
